The Portland Sea Dragon

New Blog Link

2011-10-08T02:04:00.000-07:00

My Blog continues on my new web site at http://carolhunt.co.uk/blog/

Talking about the Chronicles

2011-09-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

I an working on a talk for Portland Rotary Club entitled Writing the Portland Chronicles, children’s stories set on Portland inspired by local myths, legends and history. So far I have found various maps and old dragon jokes. I think in some ways it will be more challenging than talking to children - at least you can guarantee that kids will ask lots of very searching questions (How much do you earn? etc). In fact, there are so many aspects of my books that are drawn from the local landscape and folklore that it is difficult to know where to begin.

Pirate Graves

2011-09-14T13:00:00.000-07:00

Here is a preview of the cover artwork by Domini Deane for Portland Pirates. Inspired by the 'pirate graves' at Church Ope. Domini works in watercolour and it takes a few weeks to complete the cover. She is great at capturing the spirit of a place and character in her painting.

Autumn Ghosts

2011-09-13T13:26:00.001-07:00

The Autumn evenings are drawing in and my thoughts turn inevitably to ghosts. Several places on Portland lend themselves to ghost stories. The Verne at the highest point of Portland deserves a legion of Roman soldiers tramping down the steep incline. There should be a headless horseman lurking somewhere near the windmills. And a group of lost Edwardian ladies with umbrellas walking around Wakeham in the rain.

I'm not sure why I am fascinated by ghosts. Perhaps something to do with watching a lot of Scooby-Doo shows in the early 1970s.

Venus, Ghosts and Frankenstein

2011-08-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

We went to see the Venus Verticordia by Dante Gabriel Rossetti at the Russell Cotes art gallery in Bournemouth today http://russell-cotes.bournemouth.gov.uk. Amazing colours. The twins liked the Victorian decor of the house and the cafe. We found ghosts in the churchyard at St Peter's Church, and saw the grave of Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein. Nearby we also saw Domini's Frankenlion! (http://www.prideinbournemouth.com/lions.php) Now I am looking over the typeset manuscript of Portland Pirates, in its final stages, with a sword and pirates hat by Domini inset as chapter breaks.

Looking for Ancestors

2011-08-06T01:52:00.001-07:00

Last week I went to the parish of St Feock in Cornwall to look at a church built by my ancestor William Gerrish, a stonemason born in 1800. The church is set deep in the Cornish countryside, in an area where a lot of my forebears lived, including Penroses as well as the Gerrish family. The only recorded twins in my family tree (until Jade and Jasmine) were William's sons, so I feel a sense of connection to his family. The Saxon church tower set apart from the church building seems oddly familiar too.

Final changes to Pirates

2011-07-26T01:07:00.001-07:00

Made some drastic changes to the manuscript of Portland Pirates early yesterday morning and sent to Roving Press. I have changed the names of 3 main characters. The Pirates has quite a number of characters, including a pirate crew, Cap'n Red Pete, a cabin boy, not to mention a smuggler and the usual array of present day characters; Isabel, her naughty sister Suzie and Gregor the badly behaved dog from Groves Farm.

I am often asked if my characters are based on real people. Some characters are inspired more or less by people I have met, even briefly. Sometimes just a chance comment will also inspire a scene or help to rewrite an aspect of the plot. Not long ago I was talking to Wendy, who designs and creates peg dolls, and she described seeing an unusual cloud formation over Portland. The cloud was shaped like a dragon. Portland always seems to produce dragons. But it started me thinking about my time-travelling pirate ship and how the ship itself could appear in the clouds. It helped with a few plot difficulties, so thanks Wendy!

Radio Solent

2011-07-17T00:01:00.000-07:00

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/bdb. I enjoyed talking to Harry Crawford at the Big Dorset Brunch. Nice that he compared The Portland Chronicles to works by CS Lewis, Tolkien and JK Rowling!! But I guess its very true that youngsters like to read about fantasy, myth and legend. Even more so if the legends are drawn from a place they know well, or can visit. We discussed my pirate research and I mentioned Henry Strangways who hid his pirate loot at Portland Castle. I suppose the humour in some of my characters makes the Chronicles a little different. We also talked about how important young readers are at this stage of editing Portland Pirates. Their views are very important.

The Real Portland Sea Dragon

2011-07-09T01:18:00.000-07:00

A skull belonging to one of the largest sea monsters ever found has recently gone on show at Dorset County Museum in Dorchester. The pliosaur lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and was a terrifyingly huge creature, like an enormous crocodile. Scientist can estimate from the size of the skull that the creature would have been 15 to 18 metres long. The skull was found near Weymouth, Dorset, a few years ago.

Palaeontologist Richard Forrest said of the skull: "This is an iconic specimen - one of the most exciting we have seen in years. It was probably the most fearsome predator that ever lived. Standing in front of the skull you can imagine this enormous beast staring straight back at you, fixing you with its binocular vision, and attacking. Just thinking about it raises the hairs on the back of your neck."

I have been following this story with great interest - my story The Portland Sea Dragon was inspired by a local legend, the Chesil Beach sea monster (the Veasta, as it is often called), and also by the real archaeological evidence of the pliosaur found nearby. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14061347

Unicorns and Elidor

2011-06-03T01:33:00.001-07:00

Writing about a unicorn this morning for Book 4 of The Portland Chronicles, The Island Giant, I have been thinking a great deal about Alan Garner and Elidor. I was very influenced by his stories, which I started reading when I was about 7 years old. I believe Elidor was published in the year that I was born, 1965. I loved the way that a fantasy world was juxtaposed against the real gritty life of a Northern city, and it felt very real to me. I remember the experience of being underground in the tunnels of The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, as if I had been really there. For me, these stories marked a transition in reading, where I started to live in the world inhabited by characters and identified closely with them. The novel was a journey I took with these characters, turning the pages not just to find out what happened next, but also to stay in that world with them.

Local Authors' Day - Imagine Bookshop

2011-05-24T02:12:00.000-07:00

I'm looking forward to the Local Authors' Day at Imagine Bookshop on Saturday. The shop has a very interesting collection of books and is a lovely environment to browse through classic novels as well as modern and illustrated stories; great for children and grown ups alike. Always good to see Gary Biltcliffe, author of Spirit of Portland, whose research on the history of Portland fascinates people. A great chance to meet other local authors too. http://www.imaginebookshops.com/Local-Authors--Day.html

Beginning the Island Giant

2011-05-22T03:23:00.000-07:00

While Portland Pirates is with Julie at Roving Press, I've been experimenting with writing in other genres, such as drama and poetry. Drafted the 1st scenes of a screenplay version of The Portland Sea Dragon, to see how it would work. The dragon deserves a starring role! Main difficulty is conveying time changes/shifts into the past within the present day sequence of events. I've enjoyed the challenge of writing as if I'm watching the story unfold in the cinema. Have also been working on a poem that explores why I write and what inspires me, especially a sense of place.

Last night, after several uneasy nights dreaming of a future Portland landscape, I started work on the 4th book of the Portland Chronicles, The Island Giant. I wrote the 1st draft of this over 4 years ago and it doesn't mesh with the 3 preceding stories, so I have decided to start afresh. Wrote about 3,000 words very late while a gale rattled the doors and shook the windows.

Stormy weather over Portland

2011-05-09T04:19:00.001-07:00

There has been amazing weather over Portland this weekend. Huge storms, thunder and lightning, as well as an unusual 'roll cloud'. Very inspiring for writing. Real dragon weather.

Portland Pirates Cover Design

2011-05-06T13:27:00.000-07:00

Met today with Julie from Roving Press, who's editing Portland Pirates at the moment, and Domini Deane, Bournemouth artist who's producing the artwork. We talked about the colour scheme for the cover, which characters will appear, and how they will be represented. Domini already has sketches for the front and back covers, and produces the final artwork in watercolour, beginning with a colour wash for the background and building up the picture in layers of colour. I love the way she captures personality in the expressions of the characters. Portland Pirates is the Summer book of the series (The Portland Sea Dragon is winter, the Enchantment of the Black Dog is spring), so we are concentrating on vivid summer colours this time. We also worked on the map of Portland. Each book has a slightly different 'take' on the map. This one will feature a rock climber and some older place names featured in the story.

Giant at Cerne

2011-05-05T12:06:00.000-07:00

Starting to look for the Giant of Book 4 in the Portland Chronicles. I went to Cerne Abbas to look at one of our local Dorset giants; something very grand about his image on the hill. The village is quiet but atmospheric, and the coaching inn has a mysterious atmosphere. I expected a highwayman to ride under the arch on a black horse. Cerne has a timeless quality. I wonder why giants are so intriguing, whether the stories of a race of giants have any meaning other than the mythical. While writing about the Black Dog, I confronted aspects of this myth over several dark winter months; writing can be a journey on many invisible levels. I am wondering where the Island Giant will begin. The Silver Well has wonderful light under the bright Lime trees, ribbons tied to the twigs for wishes.

Magical Light

2011-05-05T12:01:00.000-07:00

The light at Church Ope is sometimes v magical, esp on a sunny Spring day. This early 18th century grave stone was in direct sunlight. The 'pirate graves' lit by a sweep of lime green trees.

The Map

2011-05-01T02:42:00.000-07:00

I love looking at maps of Portland, especially old maps with place names now largely forgotten and specialist maps, such as those used for sailing and climbing. I spent some time recently looking at a map on display at Portland Museum, a copy from 1800 by Gilbert Steward that includes places called Thunderbolts Hole and Shepherds Dinner; fantastic names that evoke the history of Portland. I am currently working on the draft of a map to go with Portland Pirates. To my surprise, I find I've referred to 57 places/local features in the story and I am finding it difficult to work out which places to include and leave out.

An ending

2011-04-21T02:47:00.000-07:00

It's always difficult to say when a story is finished. I guess if I'm just constantly changing the to a and back again, then there's not a lot going on. But every now and then (usually when miles from a pen and paper) I suddenly realise that something has to be rewritten. However I think an ending is in sight for Portland Pirates.

Portland Climbers

2011-04-20T02:41:00.001-07:00

As part of my research for Portland Pirates, I talked to a local climber about what it's like to climb the many cliffs around Portland. Rich and Sarah at New Heights Climbing take out groups of new and experienced climbers, often climbing by the Cuttings, a popular area on the east coast. I was very interested in the type of rope and equipment used to traverse the various cliff faces. Many of the nearly 900 climbs around Portland are already bolted so climbers can clip into the rocks, although some areas have seasonal restrictions to protect birds such as peregrines and puffins.

I was also intrigued by the unusual names given to the various routes, such as Yikes Shaggy! and Reptile Smile. When I lived on the West Cliffs, I often saw climbers heading out to tackle the sheer cliff faces. This inspired me to create 2 characters who would represent another aspect of the island's life.

Climbing is another unique facet of Portland, which brings people to the Isle from all over the world. Rich from New Heights helped me to piece together how my main character Isabel would experience climbing, and what kind of safety equipment would be used. to bring these chapters to life. http://www.climbingengland.com/content/photos.asp

Portland Connections

2011-04-19T14:41:00.000-07:00

Church Ope today, always fascinates me... I was studying a map of Portland at the museum today, a copy made of an original c. 1800. The place names are different, intriguing. With all my family coming from the north of England (or so I believed), I am still trying to find out about my grandmother's grandfather George Harris, who said (in the 1881 census) that he came from Portland, Dorset, born here in 1847. Such a coincidence.

The Phoenician

2011-04-19T14:05:00.000-07:00

Saw the Phoenician statue today at Portland Museum. He has a presence of his own, contemplative but aware of the changing world around him. Benevolent too. With the high point of Phoenician culture around 1200BC, I wonder whether this statue could possibly be so old. There were trade links between Dorset and the Mediterranean in this era.

More Pirates

2011-04-17T02:02:00.000-07:00

I have nearly finished writing the Portland Pirates now. The story is a little more complex as the relationships between the characters are intertwined, and Isabel my main character is heading towards that awkward age of 13. Church Ope features a lot in the story, as well as Chesil and Portland Bill. The atmosphere of Church Ope lends itself well to pirates, not to mention the intriguing graves at St Andrews. Vikings landed here in the 8th century. I've read that Portland itself was named for the Saxon pirate Porth. Pirates everywhere... if you look hard enough...

Portland Pirates!

2011-03-05T13:29:00.000-08:00

Writing about pirates for Book 3... Looking at the history of piracy, it fascinates me to find just how much the pirate legend owes to fiction. Even some 18th century pirates took up the profession after reading a romanticised account of the pirate lifestyle! (Rather like Heat magazine today.)Blackbeard played to his own legend, lighting tapers in his beard. Writing about pirates is referencing a whole literary genre, from the mysterious Captain Charles Johnson who wrote about Pyrates in 1724 to Treasure Island onwards. Even the movie of Peter Pan has influenced how we perceive pirates, with the invention of 'walking the plank'. Not to mention Pirates of the Caribbean! It's a challenge to come up with something different enough to be worth reading! Though of course these will be Portland Pirates which sets them apart anyway...

2011-02-27T13:16:00.000-08:00

Lovely to see these gentle creatures early this morning... a peaceful start to a busy Sunday. Portland Pirates is taking shape. Is there enough swashbuckling... ?

Church Ope Cove

2011-02-24T13:28:00.000-08:00

I spent some time at Church Ope today, thinking about pirates! Many of the graves still standing there are worn and difficult to decipher, most of them dating from the early to mid 1700s. I was speculating at the origins of the word Ope with a friend, we believe that it's possibly a Scandinavian word originally, meaning opening or inlet, and there are several 'Ope' places on Portland. Looking across the bay from Church Ope, it's easy to see why the Vikings found this approach attractive when they visited Portland many centuries ago. I remember visiting the so called 'pirate graves' as a teenager and finding the words and images on them far more legible than now. The hourglasses on some of the stones fascinate me; an image that I don't associate with gravestones nowadays, yet clearly significant in the past, showing the inevitable passing of time, perhaps also the finite aspect of life. It's a powerful image and it shows how differently time and death were seen in the past. We also spent quite a while wondering who would have been buried in the raised stone graves marked with skull and crossbones. These stones still stand fast and look well constructed. The image of skull/crossbones that we now associate with piracy was once, like the hourglass, an image for death, so may not in fact show a pirate burial. And would a pirate warrant an expensive, respectable burial in the island graveyard? Perhaps not. These ancient graves are nonetheless intriguing and mysterious...

Launch of Enchantment of the Black Dog, December 2010

2010-12-23T01:29:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who came along to the launch, it was great to see so many people and it was good to talk to about Portland history. I met a member of the Durston family, related to the poet/stonemason Skylark, whose story about the black dog inspired and intrigued me.

Rain and Pumpkins

2010-10-26T03:25:00.000-07:00

Rain, pumpkins, ghosts, must be Hallowe'en soon...

Cats!

2010-10-07T01:52:00.000-07:00

I feel better about the whole cat thing now. I've added a cat rescue sanctuary to Portland Pirates (book 3) so perhaps they will be happy with this! The run up to Halloween is a strange time of year as the dark nights seem to draw in so suddenly. I took this photo of the full moon over Portland a week or two ago.

Strange Days

2010-10-05T02:30:00.000-07:00

Enchantment of the Black Dog is in the final production stages. Domini, the artist has completed the map for the book and the cover - it looks amazing. I'm sort of between books now. The third book of the series is starting to take shape but I can see there's a lot of work to do on Portland Pirates. Everything feels a bit in-between at the moment, a strange time. I was woken on Saturday by a cat jumping off the bed. I heard its paws hit the floor, it ran to the bedroom door and miaowed. Of course, I don't have a cat! There was no cat there at all! Later that morning, I saw a huge black cat crossing the road in Radipole, bigger than a fox, with a long curving tail! My daughter, stood next to me, didn't see a thing...

Strange days.

Artwork - Enchantment of the Black Dog

2010-10-04T02:06:00.000-07:00

Domini Deane has finished the artwork for the cover of Book 2, very exciting to see the characters come to life. I really like the way Domini has depicted the Giant's head, a real Portland feature from the east coast. Here's a preview from the cover.

Heading into St Augustine's school, Weymouth, this week to talk to some younger children. I'm looking forward to the visit.

Gregor!

2010-09-12T01:42:00.000-07:00

Saw at least 3 Gregor collie dogs at the Cricket Club fair, bounding over the jumps and dashing through the tunnel. The twins kept a close eye on me, in case I spoke to any of the owners and said something embarrassing. It was good to see friendly faces there, despite the drizzle. And the majorettes were fantastic as always. It does feel like life imitates art, I wonder why this is? Or how?

Final Proofs

2010-09-11T01:16:00.001-07:00

Read through the proofs yesterday on line. The story seems to read differently once it's set into pages - in some ways it reads faster, if that makes sense. Will have hard copies today and expect those will feel different again. Easier to write than the first book in the series; once the characters were established the story told itself.

My favourite character at the moment is Ryder, the surf dude, whose helping the mermaid ("Mer-babe") look for the black dog. She's hidden his Kangaroo designer surf board to blackmail him into helping her, after he ran over her tail on a surfboard.

We are at the Red Triangle club fair today... which is a bit weird as Mrs Groves in my story is planning to show her hopeless, badly behaved dog Gregor at the show dogs event. I keep saying to the children, "Yes, we'll have to make sure we see Gregor". They don't say anything. I think they just feel sorry for me.

Watch Out, Scooby Doo!

2010-09-07T01:10:00.000-07:00

Writing some blurb for the back cover for Enchantment of the Black Dog today. I drafted some thoughts yesterday but it reads too slowly. Too much information I think. There's something there at the back of my mind but it's not on the page.... When I close my eyes I can see Shaggy shouting at Scooby Doo, "Watch out, Scooby!" I wonder what that's all about! Writing's a strange thing....

WH Smiths Book Signing, August 2010

2010-09-04T01:18:00.000-07:00

These photos were taken at the book signing at WH Smiths, Weymouth in August. Very busy and lots of interest from people wandering through from the beach as well as people who came along to see us.

A photo on the left is Gary Biltcliffe, author of The Spirit of Portland.

Also a photo of me and Jasmine.

Just reading excerpts from Holinshed's Chronicles - written around the end of the 16th century, The Chronicles take a detailed look at the history of Britain and are mainly known as Shakespeare's source for plays such as MacBeth. The history starts with the flood, after which Noah ruled over the land and the Chronicles follow history from this point. Intriguing and colourful! I'm not sure where this research is going! Although I am fascinated by the idea of a race of giants (son of Neptune, Albion) inhabiting the Kingdom and I think I will be returning to this again soon.

Season of mists

2010-08-31T00:20:00.001-07:00

It feels like Autumn is creeping in today. The light on Portland is very bright and clear, but different from summer. School is looming for the kids. I still haven't got all the uniform... and can't find any pencils. Perhaps the seagulls have eaten them.
Enchantment of the Black Dog, the next book in the Chronicles, has gone to the typesetter and Domini is working on the illustrations for the cover. The roughs look fantastic, it will be great to see Church Ope cove on the cover. And the mermaid. And the Southwell fairy. Not to mention the Black Dog of Portland himself.
I've spent so much time over the last couple of years thinking about the black dog and who or what he may be. The research by Dr Simon Sherwood at CSAPP, University of Northampton, has been v enlightening. And thought provoking. But I'll write more about this another time.

There have been so many things happening this summer. I enjoyed the talks at Swanage and Weymouth libraries, and meeting children and grown ups who enjoy The Portland Sea Dragon. I loved meeting Margaret who grew up on Portland and is a fan of the book. I won't try to guess when she lived at the cottages at underhill! I wish we'd had more time to talk.

The Big Groves Summer Festival

2010-07-20T05:04:00.000-07:00

It was hot! The children who came to the Island Play tent worked on a fantastic collage of the mermaid, who looks very slightly sinister (just as she should be!). I am hoping to take her with me to the Book signing event with Gary Biltcliff on Saturday at WH Smiths in Weymouth. It's the last week of the school year, a sad week for parents! and a happy one for kids!

Portland Museum Event 2 May 2010

2010-05-06T02:03:00.000-07:00

The Portland Museum event on 2 May went v well, it was nice to have an opportunity to chat to people about the book. Of course the Portland lamb stole the show, v beautiful! Not to mention the baby goats. Glad to hear lots of grown ups are reading the book too!!

The Portland Sheep are Coming Along

2010-05-01T01:03:00.000-07:00

We can't get anything done here - too excited about seeing the sheep at the Portland Museum tomorrow. Last night, I dreamt a herd of sheep came and rounded me up for the event but I forgot my shoes.... If the weather is not too bad Soozy is bringing along a lamb... can't wait.

Words Etcetera, Dorchester

2010-04-26T02:39:00.000-07:00

Portland Museum

2010-04-26T02:16:00.000-07:00

Everyone here is getting very excited about the Portland Museum event/book signing on Sunday 2 May. Even the Portland sheep have said they may like to come along! Baaa! I met Kate Wheller from the Museum last week and talked about arrangements for the day. We will be putting up posters around Weymouth, Portland and south Dorset this week. Have also arranged a talk at Budmouth school for July, which I am really looking forward to.
Took some pictures of the Dorchester bookshop that's featuring the Portland Sea Dragon and if I ever work out how I will display them on here!
Over the weekend I finally sat down and summarised the plot again for book 2, the Enchantment of the Black Dog. It's a good way to see if the plot and sub-plots hold together. Had to re-write a chapter to keep the mermaid and black dog apart till the end, and it works better. Funnily enough I wrote a bit about the Portland sheep too. V important part of Portland, we love them. (Jazzy wants to keep one in the garden).

Visiting All Saints C of E School

2010-04-20T11:38:00.000-07:00

Really enjoyed talking to Year 7 students at All Saints C of E school in Weymouth today. They asked some great questions - how many people does it take to produce a book? what inspired me to write about a sea dragon? who proofreads my work? and lots of other good questions - made me think hard.... We also talked a lot about the process of producing a book and looked at how the editor makes changes to a manuscript and how long the process of editing and rewriting takes.

Dog Training

2010-04-07T07:58:00.000-07:00

My friends Mrs Groves and Mrs Greychurch have just popped in with a poster. Mrs Groves feels that over Easter dog behaviour has gone downhill. So she has brought a poster, featuring a list of dog training tips that she would like to see displayed on my blog. In fact, she has insisted. As Gregor, her black and white collie, is sitting on my foot and panting at me, I have agreed. Mrs Greychurch is in the lounge re-arranging the cushions on the sofa. I know she would like to have a quick hoover around. Anyway I've told them I have to go out in a minute.

I am always pleased to see them but also a bit relieved when they go home.

As promised, here is Mrs Groves' Guide to Dog Care

Biscuits are an important part of training your dog. Make sure you have plenty in a tin and lots of sizes and colours, or your dog may become bored of them. Custard creams are always popular.

Practise shouting. A loud voice is easier for your dog to hear.

Make clear hand signs at your dog.

Remember you can buy new table legs at B&Q, and it’s good for your dog’s teeth to chew wood. (If dogs are upset, they may get hiccups.)

Keep a large supply of blankets, as your dog may eat them.

Your dog will like to sleep in a warm spot. Keep a space by the stove in the kitchen for day time use and a rug on your bed at night.

Dogs often sulk and it’s best to ignore them.

Dogs that are a bit overweight should walk every day, even if there are horses, bicycles, hedgehogs or snails to upset them. That’s right, Gregor, they should walk every day. Then they will be slim and able to perform at the Red Triangle Cricket Field Fair at the end of the summer.

Easter and Pirates

2010-04-02T01:20:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's Easter and still raining. I guess it's best just to be grateful that we have not vanished into a black hole after they fired up the Hadron Collider - I am following the news about this with a great deal of interest, esp Dr Brian Cox....

It's been great to have so much positive feedback about the Portland Sea Dragon, after working on it alone for so long. Thank you to everyone who has been in touch. I know Domini Deane the artist looks at my blog - everyone loves the illustrations for the book and I am being asked what is going to happen next, is it the same characters (esp Gregor) and will Domini illustrate? There is a Portland Sea Dragon page on Facebook where I pick up comments regularly.

I have been working on Book 3 this week, exploring the world of the Portland Pirate! And what happens when a pirate shipwreck rises from the seabed after 400 years. With a survivor... And Mrs Greychurch has acquired a stun-gun from stunyourfriends.com. Hmm

The Portland Sea Dragon Book Launch

2010-03-23T07:51:00.000-07:00

The Portland Sea Dragon Book Launch was held at Whitestones Cafe in Easton at 2pm on Sunday 21 March. There has been a lot of interest in the book over the last few weeks but we were unprepared for the number of people who came along! Thank you to everyone who came and coped with the crowds! Thanks to Whitestones too!

Children were dressed as dragons, smugglers, mermaids, I think there was a lion in there somewhere. And a pirate. Domini Deane, the artist and illustrator for the book, had dressed up as a Portland Princess!! People had travelled from as far afield as Birmingham and Chandlers Ford. There were some great drawings and pieces of writing completed by the children.

Strange that (hopefully) people are now reading the book. For 3 years I have been the only person who has known these character and now quite a few others are meeting them too.... Strange... I can't smile at border collies any more and think "Ha! That's just like Gregor!"... Well, I will anyway....

Spirals

2010-03-15T03:44:00.000-07:00

I have always been fascinated by spirals and am researching them for The Enchantment of the Black Dog, Book two in the series of The Portland Chronicles. The image keeps finding its way into the story. There is a conch shell with spirals, stars and galaxies spiralling, and time itself which always seems to loop back on itself in a spiral.

I really enjoy the 'Solar System' series with Prof Brian Cox - he's been looking at how the same spiral force which holds together the universe also creates storms like tornadoes, and the whirl when water flows down the plughole... V interesting...

A Mermaid Attacks

2010-03-13T00:44:00.000-08:00

We visited Damers School in Dorchester this week. By we, I mean, me, the twins, a dragon and a mermaid with no teeth. We had an hour divided into four sessions with the theme 'good guys, bad guys' and I read the parts of The Portland Sea Dragon that describe the 'good' dragon and the 'bad' mermaid. In fact, I thought that the children would assume it was to be the other way round, but they guessed accurately as mermaids have a history of being dangerous creatures. The story of the Sirens was mentioned a few times. During the readings, I was attacked by the puppet mermaid, and the dragon simulated flying. I still have a rash where the mermaid bit me. However this was essential to the story.

Imaginary Friends and Portland Frost

2010-03-08T05:30:00.001-08:00

It's one of those perfect Portland days. The sky is so blue it hurts your eyes but the wind is so cold! When the wind cuts across Portland from the north-east it makes everything look really sharp, like it's been outlined in black felt tip pen. Maybe Spring will come one day. There was still frost on the garden this morning.

Had an interview today with Jane Norman from Blackmore Vale Magazine. She took a couple of photos outside by the apple trees. I enjoyed talking to Jane and she has a gentle style of interviewing that immediately puts you at ease. She asked some perceptive questions about why I started writing in the first place, and why I chose to write for children. Jane reflected that my main character Isabel is probably partly me, which I hadn't considered before, and I think she's right. I spent my childhood looking for owls (saw a couple) and I suppose a dragons is just one step further along that road. I had some difficulties describing Isabel for Domini to illustrate, as in the book I looked at the world through her eyes . Isabel was also inspired by my daughter Jasmine's best friend. Jane is going to interview the artist and illustrator Domini Deane in Bournemouth tomorrow about her artwork for the book. I am looking forward to seeing Domini again at the launch.

It still seems strange that all my imaginary friends, Mrs Groves and Mrs Greychurch, Gregor and Isabel, are about to become other people's friends too! How odd. I hope other people like Gregor as much as I do.

Visit to Radipole

2010-03-05T05:36:00.000-08:00

I really enjoyed my first visit to a school yesterday. I went to talk to Radipole School's Year 4 class and dragons, myths and legends and they all made me very welcome. The children asked some very good questions about writing the book, research and even editing. They also talked about their own local legend projects and knew a lot about the Black Dog of Portland and the 'Veasta'. So I know where to go for future research on these subjects!

Story in Dorset Echo and Time Travel

2010-03-01T01:48:00.001-08:00

The article ran in the Echo on Saturday and lots of people are commenting on it. Laura Kitching who wrote the article made a good job of writing up my waffle to her! You can find it on www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/localnews/5032024.Mum_achieves_dream_with_Portland_Sea_Dragon/?ref=rss. There is also a piece in the Free Portland News today. I always read this cover to cover so am especially proud to be featured here. I like that the article quotes James (aged 12), my first reviewer - "Not your typical book on dragons. I like the sea dragon because it's mysterious, but not in a scary way, more like an ancient and beautiful way. I also like how it's written in two time periods; you can see how the past evolves into the present." Writing about time travel is difficult - it throws up all kinds of issues and I had to give these a lot of thought. The main issues for me are:

People being in two places at one time...
Does time go by in the present if Isabel is in 1616?
If you change the past, does it change the present?
Does time run in a line, or in a circle, or in a spiral?
How do people travel across time?

I found some of the answers to these issues, in some fashion, by reading up on Quantum physics. Very small particles of matter can exist in more than one place at a time (protons) and can move from one place to another without having to travel there. They just pop up! In theory, time travel is possible. We just don't know how to do it yet. I am watching the news on the Particle Accelerator in Geneva with interest as it may give some answers to the issues of how these very tiny particles behave....

So anyway I am really pleased that my time travel makes sense to James and that I didn't have to put in a Narnia wardrobe to get Isabel back to the past!

Echo interview

2010-02-25T04:46:00.000-08:00

I had my first interview yesterday with the Dorset Echo, which was exciting and hopefully will be in the paper this week. In The Portland Sea Dragon I refer to the fascinating story from the Echo about the recent discovery of pliosaur remains just along the coast from Portland. Quite a coincidence that a sea monster is discovered at the same time that I am writing about one!

The reporter asked about how I researched the book and why I wrote it in the first place. I've researched so much local history, it's hard to say exactly what was significant to the book and what remained as background interest. Reading about how women lived in the seventeenth century was very useful. I enjoyed finding out about the idea of witches and what that might mean to someone who has been called the Island Witch, my character Agnes Maydew. I also read up on the history of smuggling in Dorset, to give Joseph Groves an authentic background. I forgot to say that I also researched Gregor by visiting my parents' dog. This did not involve any reading - just throwing a squeaky duck and feeding biscuits.

My New Book

2010-02-23T02:30:00.000-08:00

Three weeks from now my first book, The Portland Sea Dragon will be published by Roving Press. We have the first copies of the book here and it looks amazing! Domini Deane's artwork captures the spirit of the book and of Portland - I love the details she has included - the pair of eyes under the mermaid's rock! I wonder what it is... Is it a lobster, a bug-eyed fish, or a crab?

There is a lot to organise with the book launch on Sunday 21 March. I am still trying to decide whether to dress as a dragon or not. Some people say I look like one anyway...