Amazing proofing - and a bit of magic

 My story  The Happiness Dress won an award from the Commonwealth  Foundation for the best children's story in 2011. I was greatly honoured and thrilled.  The Foundation published the stories in audio form,  to be distributed throughout the Commonwealth. It was left for the writers to find print publishers. I sought a publisher, thought I had found one, and then faced problems, which resulted in lost time, a couple of years really. So as not to feel totally helpless,  at the mercy of the vicissitudes of life, I  decided to publish The Happiness Dress as an e-book, to join my other children's e-books  on Amazon. Not making many sales really, but at least the book would be somewhere.

I figured that at the most I would just have one more read through of the book before telling the designer /illustrator to make a final copy for uploading to Amazon, when I suddenly found myself in Barbados visiting the grandchildren. Yes, suddenly, as in just like magic, and certainly there is a bit of  magic in this.  Do you believe in magic?

Having tried out another story (in the works) on the 'grands',  to what seemed like a positive reception, I became bolder, and thought I would show them other stories I had brought, a print out of Ebony and the Auntie of the Starlight, a Caribbean Cinderella story (already on Amazon) and The Happiness Dress. My nine year-old granddaughter declared Ebony interesting and humourous. It passed! The Happiness Dress, although below her age group (she's gobbling up chapter books), was next. She loved the illustrations, of course (like Ebony, done by Rachel Wade Moss).

Then: 

"Grandma, here's a mistake!"

"A what? No, there can't be a mistake. A lot of us read it. No, there's no mistake,"  the voice moving from shock to that indulgent adult tone you use when you don't want to discourage  a child who is showing initiative, but has got it wrong.

"Yes, there is,"  says a nine year-old Bajan (pet name for Barbadian) voice, carrying all the certainty with it of a country with a 98% literacy rate (or some impressive figure like that).

"Let me see," I say.

And there it is! An error! How do you miss an error in 500 words, spread across 24 pages? So many of us have read it. So, it's only a question mark, but still.

Then she finds another. Then she finds a page where she says, "Paragraphs!"

And, lo and behold! There it is, a page, a short page, where the paragraphs need revisiting, a nice publishing word for the 'paragraph them wrong'. By then I'm feeling pale and wan. (reference from English lit. in school).

It is only a matter of time before she tells me what I already know about the typeface. The distance between the apostrophe and the next letter (e.g. won' t) is too great. It will confuse young readers. The typeface must be changed. A whole heap of work is left on this book!

I have never claimed to be good at proofing. I like editing, but I always use a proofer, paying for the services of one out of my money if there has been no allowance made for it in a project. But still, how do you miss these errors in 500 words  and 24 pages?

Much praise is heaped upon my granddaughter. She suggests that she can do all proofing for me in the future.

Then my seven year-old grandson shouts that he has found an error.

"No, you haven't," we say.

After all, he is only seven, and the bright reader of chapter books has already 'shredded' the text.

"Yes!" he declares,  "Carolyne is spelt Carolyne in most places, but there is one which is spelt Caroline."

We are all struck dumb. He is quite right. That is even worse than question marks and paragraphs. His mother asks if he read the story. No, he hasn't. He just checked all the Carolynes ( standard proofing procedure,  but did we employ it for 500 words and 24 pages?) This is the boy who does Math exercises for fun, no doubt, hence the zeroing on the concept of checking one word throughout.

No, this is not an adoring Grandma post. I am not saying that my grandchildren are brilliant beyond words. I am not suggesting that you use your grandchildren for proofing, though it might not be a bad idea.  Rather, it's a post to warn you about the importance of proofing, even of 500 words; the challenge of  self-publishing - it is essential to use professionals even if you, yourself, are a professional, or perhaps because you are a professional, and too confident by far. (That's why you should also use an editor.) I tremble to think what might have happened, had I not unexpectedly (magically) come to Barbados. So now, do you believe in magic?

Also, I get a chance to tell you about the upcoming placing of The Happiness Dress on Amazon. However there will be more about that closer to the time.

Whose folktale is it anyway?

Bookends in The Sunday Observer of August 10, carried a piece by me on Ebony and the Auntie of the Starlight, a Caribbean Cinderella story. The content  was much like my blog of August 6, for those who want to see the local elements I introduced into the story.

The piece in the newspaper got me to thinking about folktales, the desire to rewrite some in our own image, the recording/rewriting  of our own.  There are many Cinderella stories, most, it would seem, originating from the societies in which they are located. Amazon has a  number of them,  including another Caribbean Cinderella by Robert Sans Souci (wonderful artwork), which I think is set in the French speaking Caribbean. I have not read it recently, and regrettably, do not own a copy.

When I was doing my MEd. research (not that long ago) I found that the teachers I interviewed had not been exposed to many Jamaican/Caribbean children’s books, which was distressing, but not that surprising. Interesting however, was one teacher’s response to my question about what she perceived to be our cultural heritage of children’s stories/material ( as well as Anancy). She said that Bible stories were part of our heritage because that’s what we grew up with, and so were traditional European fairy tales/folktales, for the same reason. I know, many of you are cringing. However, perception is reality.

Consequently, this could be a case for rewriting some of the traditional folktales in 'our own image'.  Cynically, I suspect that any rewritten ones would  not catch on. What can compare with the folktale characters, renamed as the ‘Princesses’ by Disney, with massive marketing of everything that can possibly be connected to them?  I have  attached to this post  covers  from two books written by  author /illustrator, the late Fred Crump Jr. (American)  in the 1980s/1990s. They are traditional fairy tales  with Black characters for African American children. These are from my collection of children’s books. I wonder how well these books did; he wrote a number. I googled him and found that he had one called Ebonita and the Seven Boys (my Ebony and his Ebonita). And no, I did not read his Cinderella  when I was writing Ebony and the Auntie of the Starlight. I haven’t looked at it in years. Moreover, I never read anything similar to what I’m writing, at any given time.

We, as minorities/majorities, depending on where we live,  may wish to rewrite the traditional fairy tales/folktales in the hope that  some children will read them and be inspired to greater self confidence, or even be moved to rewrite some themselves (perhaps  modern ones with 'lego type' figures). However, I suspect that any such endeavour would  not meet with much success, except for the exercise itself.

Clearly, it would seem that writing our own folktales would be the best way to go. And indeed at a workshop I facilitated with an overseas YA writer earlier this year, it was suggested that we have so much folklore (and by extension, folklore figures)  that we can create all sorts of exciting stories waiting to be discovered. This sounds wonderfully simple.  The problem I see with this is that many of our folklore figures are extremely malevolent.  Here in Jamaica, rolling-calf with eyes as red as coals dragging his rattling  chain; three-foot horse, which even with that handicap, or perhaps because of it,  will surely catch you;  Ol  Hige, shedding her skin;  River Mumma, at whom you shouldn’t look because  she could drag you down into the river; these are not the stuff of delightful children’s stories. And these are only the ones from Jamaica. Some of them from other territories in the Caribbean are even more frightening; soucouyant,  a shape-shifting blood sucking creature, or douens without faces and feet turned backwards, who lure children into the forest, for them never to be seen again. I think that our folklore is still too threatening, too close to us. European folklore was no doubt just as terrifying; witches and dragons, and wolves and beasts, but over the years they have been sanitized, and are seen as being from a very distant past, with no ability to frighten us anymore. In addition, they seem to lend themselves to being overcome by knights in shining armour, brave woodcutters, clever children and magical kisses. I know of no story of ours where anybody has been able to overcome anything, because ours speak to the supernatural, which one cannot overcome without a priest/parson,  calling on the blood of Jesus,  or some other religious activity. And I’m not being at all flippant.

This leaves us with good old Anancy and his comrades in mischief/deceit, Brer Tiger, Brer Rabbit, Brer Alligator, and so on. I enjoyed Anancy stories as child; the week overcoming the oppressor. These served the slaves well. However,  Anancy was also not averse to tricking his wife and children. This trickster side of Anancy, this ‘samfie’ side, may well be out of place as we move forward. The first time I heard this proposed (some years ago) I was horrified. What! Our precious Anancy! Never! Now, I’m not too sure. Time for samfie to be over and done with as a national construct? Never mind, guys. Calm your fluttering hearts. Anancy will probably always be with us.

It is against this background that I created Auntie of the Starlight, and she makes her second appearance in Ebony and the Auntie of the Starlight, a Caribbean Cinderella story, as a benevolent ‘fairy godmother’, although one that is somewhat annoyed with  silliness, like you not realising your worth. I must also point out that Helen Williams, (Bill Elm) made wonderful use of River Mumma in Delroy in the Marog Kingdom (Macmillan). Note however, that that book  is for an older child, and not for the Cinderella/Snow White generation. (Yes, I know the Cinderella story has lent itself to teenage movies, but you guys, know I’m not talking about that.)

I’d love to get feedback on this, the use of our own creatures/folklore in stories for younger children. I plan to follow this post with others on multicultural children’s literature, so we might find a connection. There have been recent  articles on this topic of children needing to see themselves in books, by Malorie Blackman in the UK and  the late Walter Dean Myers (USA) and his son.

Despatches: A successful upload; another endeavour disappointing: Rethinking endeavours; to do or not to do

Now why should you read this post? It may be much ado about nothing. Aha, maybe that’s why you should read it; in case it isn’t.

Successful upload. As you know (those who may follow my blog) Ebony and the Auntie of the Starlight, a Caribbean Cinderella story was uploaded to Amazon. Then  on Sunday, August 10, the Observer newspaper highlighted it in Bookends. I was very pleased.

Disappointment: I saw the PDF of Things I Like. I did not like my painting of the illustrations at all. At all! They looked lovely when I painted them, even when I put them on my blog, but stand alone in a book. No sir! I saw every miss-stroke of the brush, every distortion of an image.  The idea was to  produce the PDF  and get a corporate sponsor for copies for basic schools. Well, I’d be embarrassed to own these images. My designer did  her best. I was so overwhelmed (not to tears, or anything like that), just so astonished, that all I could say to her, is ‘stop there while I think about this’.

There are lessons to be learnt here.

1.       A Level Art does not make you an artist or illustrator.

2.       Four hours of painting lessons year before last, does not get you back to A Level standard, which does not  . . . anyway.

3.       There is a reason why they have illustrators for children’s books.

4.      You may never be able to turn yourself into a painter or illustrator for your own books. Accept that!

So what do I do now?

1.       Clearly I should ask my designer if she can just colour the pictures with Photoshop or something.

2.       Give up the idea of the book and feel ‘pale and wan’ (check the literature we read in school for explanation of the term) about any such endeavour.

3.       Perhaps ask about new illustrations for the text. What a frantic thought!

Well, clearly, I’ll go with #1 first. The fact that I have not done it yet speaks volumes although I cannot hear what is being said.

This post would seem to be all about my angst; much ado about nothing, indeed. However I think it speaks to some very important concerns, none of them new,  but the ability to self-publish underscores them.

The most important is how do you get the money to self-publish what you want to publish, or in my case, republish? People have been asking me why I don’t seek crowdfunding. To show how up-to-date I am on the concept,  I was about to write 'cloud funding' (naturally, things are stored in a cloud, so clearly, .  .  .  ) when a little voice said, “Look it up!”  Eh! Eh! But is a whole world out there of crowdfunding. So many sites. I would of course be shy/too proud/can’t wrap my head around the concept of people I don’t know supporting me, and on and on into further  angst.

I think one of my biggest challenges right now is do I want to continue to try to  break these new barriers, of this new digital  world, and I really hate this being in the spotlight of doing things, doing them differently (no doubt, that is why I write a blog, eh!), or do I want to retreat into the dignity of the ‘pure writer’ who must always be published by a well know publisher to be considered to be a serious, pure, mature writer? To do or not to do; to be or not to be.

This is a case of pure confusion. I’m going to put it down and come back to it another time. Any ideas would be welcome, guys! 

Next post will be about more mature matters.

And independent Caribbean Cinderella for Independence, as promised

 Ebony  and the Auntie of the Starlight, a Caribbean Cinderella story has made it for Independence, August 6. In fact, she was up and ready for Emancipation Day.  The significance of Independence was that instead of Ebony meeting the prince at a ball, she meets him at the Independence Parade.  I do not know if there is any symbolism in Emancipation. I would not ascribe such links between the story and the symbolism  of Emancipation Day. It might even seem somewhat disrespectful. However, in all seriousness, there is the emancipation from mental slavery that Bob Marley sang about.

I have  sent out notices to all the people in my address book, which you guys know I hate, because it seems so pushy, so I’m glad that’s over. I have to develop a better marketing strategy. For one, very few people on my list will buy the book as an e-book. We are not into e-books yet for children.  For two, it’s not a targeted group. Many of the people on my list may not even be interested in children’s books.  

So come with me as we step awhile into the creation of Ebony  as a Caribbean Cinderella.

Differences/Similarities:

Differences and similarities are interwoven; they go in and out like maypole dancers (which are both European and part of our Jamaican heritage, as you may remember).

First, Ebony is in the Caribbean, and is an orphan in a children’s home, not related to the stepmother figure/villain figure as in the original fairy tale. However, the evil villain character, Mrs. Redeyeness,  still has two  mean daughters.

The fairy godmother has been replaced by the Auntie of the Starlight, and her transforming of Ebony from the kitchen to the parade, mirrors Cinderella, even as it creates humour at what is different. Ebony it seems, remembers the Cinderella story,  and wonders if the steps to her transformation will be the same. ( I love to do this by way of showing that the old folktales can make links with our stories today. I did it in Cordelia Finds Fame and Fortune, but just a mention.) So back to Ebony.

“Oh, Auntie of the Starlight, thank you, thank you!” she cried. “But are you sure I can walk in glass slippers?”  

“They aren’t glass, chile. Everybody knows glass would break,” said the Auntie of the Starlight. “I don’t know where you get that idea of glass slippers. Pure foolishness! They are plastic.” 

“Oh,” said Ebony, “I thought I heard it in a story. So should I have a coach made from a pumpkin? Or maybe not. . .” 

“A coach! No! What would you do with a coach? If you wished for a car. . .  but you didn’t,” said the Auntie of the Starlight. “So run, chile! Run and catch the parade before it pass.”  
 

The prince is not a prince, but the son of the owner of a spice factory called the Spice Kingdom,  therefore  prince-like as far as the people in the district are concerned. 

 Symbolism and Character in the Story:

Ebony is an orphan in a children’s home. This beginning has never been auspicious for anyone anywhere. Ebony rightly concludes she has no future. This is what she has to overcome in the story,  if she can.  I clearly describe Ebony’s physical  appearance and hair (that which we do not wish to mention) as  celebration of the African part of us.

Mrs. Redeyeness: the fact that she is not related to Ebony by marriage makes her behaviour all the more dreadful. The term ‘red eye’ refers to someone who is envious, grudgeful, jealous and has pure 'bad mind'.  She so dislikes  the fact that Ebony has grown into a lovely woman and that she is genuinely a sweet person, that she goes out of her way to be unkind to her, by inviting her into her home to become a drudge.  See how Mrs. Redeyeness  rejoices as Ebony’s  beauty seems to fade under all the hard work she has to do:

 “Ebony will just look like a poor bedraggled butterfly.” Every time she thought of it, she laughed, “Ha ha! Ha ha! A bedraggled butterfly! Ha ha! Ha ha! A bedraggled butterfly!”
 

Auntie of the Starlight: we first see her in the Christmas story I wrote light years ago, which I usually put on my blog ever Christmas. I developed her in place of the traditional fairy godmother. Auntie is a term of respect here, and I love starlights, such excitement when I was a child.  Such magic. Perhaps she is also partly the wise old woman who features in our stories, mine included, the mother-female/the grandmother-female.

The song sung by the Auntie of the Starlight, celebrates our trees, links to the fact that Ebony’s name is that of a tree, and so perhaps that allows for extra magic; who knows? for additional help for this daughter of the island, daughter being a respectful term for a  young  woman. Perhaps I got the term from Rastafarian speech. I don’t know. Things seep into the psyche and reappear in stories.

The spices celebrate our spices, that I think we could really develop and access niche markets.

Alfred ‘the prince’ is noble and handsome and good, and sees who Ebony really is. He will respect her, we know. That is very important. His character rather than his position, indicates why Ebony could love him.

Plot: Aha! By the time I’d got to the part where Alfred  has done his ‘some day my prince will come’, asking for Ebony’s hand in marriage, and then Mrs. Redeyeness and daughters cling to Ebony, declaring their love and need for her, and Ebony is wondering if they really love her after all, and maybe she shouldn't leave them, I was pretty fed up with the ‘too-good’ Ebony.  She redeemed  herself in my eyes, however, by working at the spice factory, gaining shares in the spice factory as part of her wedding settlement, along with the ring. Mercenary? Not at all. Modern little girls need to know that a certain amount of security is important, especially when they work for it. In addition, she brought other girls from the orphanage to work there and was training others to do so. Female empowerment, sisterhood, and yes, girls from children’s homes can have a future if they can work for it - independence.

After that Ebony deserves the wonderful wedding with dancing to reggae and soca. ( a nod to the ‘Caribbeanness’ of us all) and in describing  the dancing, I chose words which to me give exactly that feeling, that movement of the feet and body.  . . . sway, sway, sway, shuffle, shuffle, shuffle  yo, yo yo . . . I hope that they succeeded.

There is no ‘happily ever after’  statement (which has fooled up all us females, all our lives) except that which Ebony can make with her life. “And Ebony realized that she had a bright future after all, and she smiled to think how happy she was.”  

Many of the old-time fairy tales/folktales were morality tales of a sort, warning tales, even if today they have been so sanitized and changed  that we have forgotten whatever that was about. Does Ebony and the Auntie of the Starlight have any  of these elements? Yes, although I did not set out for it to be so. I think that 1) the message (especially for ‘sweet people’) is do not let people take advantage of you, under the guise of love and affection, and 2) stand on your own two feet even when you think your prince has come.

The  main purpose of the story is enjoyment, the creation of our own Cinderella facing one of our possible realities.  Children know the original Cinderella story and so I hope they will also enjoy these differences, and claim this as their own. One does not expect them to understand the symbolism, but for our present-day girls, I hope the modern twist resonates with them as they are growing up.

 

Despatches: from the year of putting my children's books on Amazon as e-books

Here is the cover of my new children's e-book. Gorgeous illustration by Rachel (Wade) Moss, eh. Magical, as a friend said.

Yes, we are still working to get it up by Independence. Ebony goes to an Independence Day Parade instead of a ball. This will be a delightful present for any little child, especially your little relatives overseas.

 I'll let you know when it's available.

Despatches: from the year of putting my children's books on Amazon as e-books

 

My last post told the story of Cordelia Finds Fame and Fortune, now on Amazon. What is fascinating is that I remember the days, not that long ago, when some of us would sit around at authors' meetings asking each other, ‘Do you know how  you get a book onto Amazon? in awestruck tones, as if it were the promised land. We would send out scouts to find a way (assign it to someone to investigate). Well it is not the promised land. However, we are way past wondering. I have a friend who can do it for me. How wonderful is that, and how quickly technology has moved that mere mortals can now access this place.  So from time to time my posts will tell you about  the latest book I have put on Amazon.

Remember what my plan is: to put as many of my books on Amazon as I can, between those that were published under the auspices of the Children’s Writers Circle, self published (one), and done by other publishers where the copyright has reverted to me. It’s a place for them to be since I can't afford to reprint them. I just discovered that others are doing this in other countries, so I am not alone.  Oh yes, I’d love  my books to sell,  love to make lots of money (sound of hysterical laughter), be discovered by MGM lounging on Amazon while drinking a soda, or more appropriately,  coconut water from the shell. Ok, hush my children, you have to be from our vintage to understand. Hint: in the olden days in Hollywood, starlets  were discovered . . .

The next/latest book is in fact a new story. It’s called Ebony and the Auntie of the Starlight, a Caribbean Cinderella. So yes, it is a sort of kind of version of Cinderella.  Ebony is, however, abandoned, no one knows who she is.

"Once upon a time in an island with deep green forests and rushing rivers and waterfalls, there was a little girl, called Ebony. Ebony lived in a children’s home, which is like an orphanage, called Ebony House,  in the district of Spice Mountain. Ebony had lived there from she was a baby. Nobody knew how she came to be there. Nobody even knew her real name. That’s why she was called Ebony, after the name of the home.

Ebony had one possession, and that was a tortoiseshell hair clip.  Perhaps it could have been a clue to who Ebony was, but nobody knew anything about the tortoiseshell clip either."

Ebony has a bit of a hard time from  some real 'bad-mind' people who pretend to befriend her , taking her out of the children's home (led by Mrs. Redeyeness  - you know how she stay, right), using wood stove, coal pot and sad iron (because of high electric bills it seems) . . . Does her prince come along? Well yes, he does, ‘some day my prince will come’ and all that. And in the end Ebony becomes a modern miss with some modern ideas.

The artwork! Oh the artwork! It is gorgeous! It’s done by artist, Rachel Wade. I just  love her work and you will too.

 

The plan is to have it available by Independence as that’s when Ebony meets Alfred, at the big Independence parade. I’ll keep sending you despatches.