Why I commissioned...DIGGING IN THE DARK

Twitter style summary: Josh's geeky cousin Malcolm is obsessed with archaeology and constantly digs stuff up. So why is he avoiding new TV series Iron Age Britain?

Hilda Offen is a fantastic author/illustrator who's long-established career incorporates a Smarties Prize winner (Nice Work Little Wolf), several picture books and first readers as well as a recent shortlisting for The Roald Dahl Funny Prize for The Galloping Ghost.

Digging in the Dark is a book that follows in the same vein as The Galloping Ghost, but this time, instead of plagiarised poetry, it's Josh's cousin's obsession with archaeology that gets him into trouble. "Archaeology?" I hear you say. "That sound pretty safe territory..." But not in Hilda's hands.

When cousin Malcolm comes to stay it takes Josh, his sister Izzy and his mum by surprise. His parents turned up, left him and the ran off - what's all that about? But Josh is a well-brought up boy and tries his hardest to make Malcolm feel welcome. He shouldn't have bothered. Malcolm, is pretty hard to like, not only because he's downright rude, but also because despite professing to love history, he quite obviously has no idea what he's talking about. And another thing - there's a new TV series called Iron Age Britain starting where contestants have to live on a remote Scottish Isle as Celts, something that sounds right up Malcolm's street, but whenever it's about to come on, Malcolm finds a way to switch it off.

Hilda's writing is gently witty and the first draft of this book had me smiling and chuckling right off the mark. Combined with her classic line drawings, this is a great read for a keen 7+, with plenty of familiar schoolground settings and a Josh's-eye-view look into slices of history that this age group have already encountered.

Hilda Offen knows exactly how to put together a book, she's in touch with her young readers, a delight to work with and her writing style is fresh and accessible. Part of her continued success lies in the fact that she has spent many years visiting schools and spending time with her readers, and continues to do so even when she could probably afford a little laurel sitting. You can catch her at Imagine Children's Festival on Saturday 18th February at 12-1pm and between 2-3pm where she will be in the Imagine Craft Pavilion. (I might be there too with certain little Catnipper...)

Every book of Hilda's reads like a classic and Digging in the Dark is no exception. There's a reason why Catnip has been publishing Hilda's work since the company started.

Why I commissioned... SONG QUEST

Twitter-style summary: When a young Singer hears the dying merlee she is drawn on a quest to save the half creatures, over the ocean and into the mountains…

I first heard about Song Quest when someone mentioned that The Bookette was running a campaign to bring it back into print. After a little bit of internet digging I found out this title was the winner of the inaugural Branford Boase award, given to authors whose debut novel shows the promise of a great future in writing and the editors for picking them. Having read Katherine’s I am the Great Horse, I knew that Song Quest was going to be brilliantly written – and when I finally got my hands on a copy, it didn’t disappoint.

This is a story set in a richly developed world where the five Songs of Power are used by the special few who train on the remote Isle of Echoes to help maintain harmony throughout the land. Such is the power of the Songs that they can bring laughter in the midst of tension, sadness to allow understanding of suffering and discipline to those who transgress. They can heal – and they can kill. But being a Singer isn’t all about administering the Songs – it’s about listening to others and young Rialle is a novice Singer with an instinct beyond her years, the model student and a Singer with a bright future. In contrast, rebel Kherron can’t wait to escape the confines of the Isle and turn his back on the life of a Singer. There’s a sense of danger emanating from the mentions of the Karchlord and the pirates commissioned to do his brutal bidding, but there’s also a host of fascinating creatures and characters, adding to the depth of the setting.

This was a chance for us to publish a prize-winning novel and add yet another respected writer to the list, but it was also the perfect opportunity for me to acquire a fantasy for the 11+ age group – something I had been after for a while. When I was that age, all I wanted to do was lose myself in an unfamiliar world where the discoveries I made really felt like discoveries – the unveiling of something completely new and different. And despite the fact that this was first published in 2000 – Song Quest really is something of a discovery.

Plus it gave us scope for a pretty special cover… don’t you agree?

Why I commissioned... THE COURT PAINTER'S APPRENTICE

Twitter-style summary: When court painter, Hugo spots young Johann's talent for painting a true likeness, he doesn't realise the true scope of his protege's power.

Why did I commission this book?

It's perfect.

What? You mean I have to write more than that in order to give people a true sense of how my editorial brain works? Oh. Right, erm...

The thing is, sometimes it's that simple.

Let's set the scene: January 2010, I've returned after a long winter break to an ever-growing slushpile and made the heart-wrenching decision to close my inbox to unsolicited submissions (here's why). I pick one from the top because I find myself inexplicably short of lunch time reading and scan the covering letter - it's short, professional and contains no gimmicks. This is the kind of cover letter I like. I completely by-pass the synopsis and go straight to the real writing. (Read between the lines: spend the time on your book, not the synopsis. We editors and agents all know they're hard to write and suck the heart out of your story like a half-starved zombie. Rarely has a submission been dismissed on the weakness of its synopsis. [NB synopsis is not to be confused with plot. Weak plots may well be rejected. {And never use multiples brackets the way I'm doing right now, either.}])

Anyway, where was I? Right. I was reading: 'Ooh,' says my brain. 'Me likey.' Or something more articulate, because I am an editor and words are my thing. I read the synopsis and think the me likey thoughts again. Sandwich finished, I pick up the phone ask to speak to Richard Knight and ask him to send over the rest of the manuscript. Turns out me likey the rest of the book too. LOTS.

What did I like?

The effortlessness of the narrative. Richard has an incredibly light touch when it comes to conveying historical detail, yet I came away with a very strong sense of time and place. (Please note my grasp of European geography and history is hazy at best, so this is an impressive feat on the writer's behalf.)

The characters. Johann is not my typical fall-for hero, he's both lighter and darker than other characters I've adored. Naive, yet ambitious, insecure but assured: he's what you want him to be - and what you don't. The surrounding cast are carefully drawn, their own hopes and dreams, beliefs and shortcomings are secrets to be shared with the discerning reader but not each other.

The philosophical question at the heart of what could just have been a straight tale of the perils of being talented. This is about how art can change perceptions, just by presenting you with want you what to see, somehow seeing it, believing it, can make what it portrays true. But Richard doesn't just stop with the nature of truth, he's going to push this further so that the metaphysical questions becomes the moral ones...

But this is what I took from the story - the joy of this book is that there's so many ways it can be interpreted, it can spin you off on a thousand different thought tangents, all the while rooted in great storytelling. Had I read this as a child, it would still be on my shelf and in my mind.

Basically, for me, it's perfect on every level.

The publishing year

Inspired by the annual Guardian piece where big-time editor types review their misses and wishes of the year gone by I thought I'd do my own little post on this matter.

The book: Milicent's Book by Charlotte Moore is a lyrical coming-of-age tale written from the point of view of fourteen-year-old orphan, Milicent Ludlow. Milicent's innocence is tempered by a keen eye and a sharp mind, creating fantastic insight into an unorthodox family life in Victorian England.

Why it deserved better: Charlotte's writing is sublime and this book picked up some fantastic reviews, as well as a mention in the Guardian sandwiched between literary giants, Meg Rosoff and Patrick Ness. This is a book that should make its way into more readers' hands - and minds.

I wish I'd published: If I had a *slightly* bigger budget, then I wish I could have published Divergent (HarperCollins). This is pacey, exciting and deeply absorbing - everything you want from a teen read and I hope it does better as the brand builds in the UK over the course of the trilogy. But thinking more realistically, I wish I'd published Cold Hands, Warm Heart (Walker) this is a story that explores the issues surrounding organ donation on a personal, deeply touching level. As someone who screams 'SIGN THE FORM' at episodes of ER, I really loved this humanising tale of loss and life. It's the sort of book that I imagine with a fair wind, a sharp eye and a quick-off-the-mark offer Catnip could pick up in the future...

*On the first day of Christmas...

My true love gave to me:

A Book

Well if he/she/it really is my true love then it couldn't possibly be anything else could it?

If it were up to me then everyone I know would get a book for Christmas. A work of fiction. In paperback (unless it's only available in hardback, in which case my hand will be forced). I don't think books are cheap, I think the right book is one of the most valuable things you can receive. Nothing else can transport you away from reality for a sustained period, make you run the gamut of emotions available as a human being, leave you elated, despairing or just... a little different.

Here are the books I have bought for people in Chrsitmases past (some of these will be less than surprising if you've read previous posts!):

The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness

Elsewhere - Garielle Zevin

Looking for JJ - Anne Cassidy

Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson

Loser - Jerry Spinelli

The Red Tree - Shaun Tan

Duck, Death and the Tulip - Wolf Erlbruch

The Dogs - Mark Morris

House of the Scorpion - Nancy Farmer

So I'm looking for some new recommendations for Christmas 2011 and I reckon there's none better than YOU to do the recommending. I'm looking for something published in 2011 that fits firmly into the remit of not for adults (because that's a) too easy and b) so not my style).

Help!

*Yes, I know technically it's not the first day of Christmas. Apologies for my tardiness.

Books I Could Eat for Breakfast

This book was bought for its cover, and what a cover it is. I’ve tried to give you a sense of its full awesomeness in this photo. (I’m not sure I’m really doing it justice, but hey ho.) You can see that the idea of the Kinder-surprise-style model assembly kit is carried right around the book from front, around the spine and even around the barcode. I love a fully designed cover. It gives me goosebumps. This book was bought as a present by someone else, so imagine the joy when I found out it was a Nick Stearn creation – he who designed Clash and The Deeping Secrets.

Anyhoo, design-drooling aside, Neal Shusterman's Unwind (Simon & Schuster) is a gem. It examines the idea of children being ‘unwound’ for their body parts – harvested for their organs if their parents sign them off before they’re eighteen. It’s written in the third person present tense and you’re kept at a certain distance by the narrative moving between three characters, but this allows for the fringe characters to gain a certain level of importance. In doing so the reader’s mind is left turning in and around and about, questioning fundamental issues about identity, value and medical science.

I rarely wish a book was longer, but this book... ah. It’s something else.

MUG SHOT #3

Yes, everything about me is so sexy. Really. No, honestly. I'm telling the truth.

Or not.

This mug was a present given the Christmas after I got married and on the other side side there's an utterly charming photo of myself and my husband at our wedding in which we attempt to look, erm, sexy. It doesn't work. The pair of us are the least photogenic people in the world and when you put us together our lack of photogenicy* somehow multiplies to epic proportions. It's a miracle there's any decent photos of us from that day. And this certainly isn't one of them.

And no. I'm not going to show you that side of the mug. You don't want your eyes burned from your skull, do you?

*no, not a real word. Neither is photogenicness. Or photogenicity. Language fail.