I long ago accepted that I have a natural tendency towards the superstitious, seeing signs and portents in every little thing. Unfortunately, I also have a natural tendency towards anxiety-filled neurotic pessimism. As such my personal list of superstitions, carried with me from childhood on, ran roughly as follows:

…and so on. As you can imagine, this becomes pretty hard to live with. There are an awful lot of cats wandering around the place, and if every time you see one it is going to cause you to feel the ICY GRIP OF DEATH UPON YOUR HEART for the rest of the day, things can get to be a bit of a drag.

And so, I grew up and embraced a healthy rational emipiricist snootiness about such ideas, acknowledging the truth that all these happenings are essentially meaningless, in and of themselves.

The thing is though… that that’s not really the point. It’s not about the meaning these events carry in and of themselves, it’s about the meaning you ascribe to them. And while you can know something rationally, somehow it is still possible to feel very differently. In short, to still freak out whenever you spill some salt, even though you rationally know perfectly well that the only bad thing is that you’ve wasted a small amount of salt. Which is fairly cheap after all, and let’s face it you probably ought to be cutting down your salt intake anyway.

And so I pressed on through early adulthood, desperately attempting if never entirely managing to suppress my own irrational panic-mongering. And then one day my son was born, and – well, to cut a long story short: my head melted.

Suddenly things were very serious, and very important, and all the bad old cognitive habits came flooding back and I could barely enter a room without seeing five or six urgent and troubling Portents of Oncoming Doom.

Fortunately, I came to a helpful and indeed life-changing realisation, which in order to improve the mental wel-being of the nation I shall selflessly share with you here. It can be summed up as: “ah, nuts to all that.”

I may not be able to do anything about the fact that I am, deep down, an emotionally superstitious person. But I can at least turn that tendency to good. Given that superstitions are entirely arbitrary, I simply decided to create my own equally arbitrary new ones, but in such a way that they would cheer me up rather than stressing me out. And so, in this spirit, I give you my own Brand New and decidedly Super set of Superstitions…

…and I don’t even play the lottery. That is the power of superstition.

You’re welcome.

Neill Cameron lives in Oxford, writing and drawing comics and generally being delighted whenever he sees a squirrel. His first graphic novel, ‘Mo-Bot High’ is out now as part of the fantastic DFC Library series. Neill is currently working on new projects combining dinosaurs, pirates, monkeys and numerous other Things That Are Awesome for new weekly children’s comic The Phoenix, available now!

Neill’s website: www.neillcameron.com

Neill’s blog: neillcameron.blogspot.com

If you are ever in a theatre or at a concert and just before curtain up a man in a suit steps nervously onto the stage, you will know that I am somewhere in the audience. The theatre manager will be there to announce that that the big star has a sore throat, a headache or diarrhoea, and someone else will be playing the role tonight. In my presence, the old tradition of The Show Must Go On is suspended for the night. That’s my jinx. You can guarantee that if I’ve paid a fortune for tickets months in advance, the gremlins will strike a production.

It’s not always a bad thing. Just as football matches sometimes come alive when a team is reduced to ten men, the arrival of an understudy on stage can engender a wonderful spirit of goodwill in an audience, and I’ve rarely been disappointed once the performance has got going.

I suppose I should admit that I’ve never actually heard of diarrhoea being used as an excuse. I just wanted to show off that I have at last learned how to spell it, and I will pass the mnemonic on to you now: Dash In A Real Rush Hurry Or Else Accident. Just the sort of thing they should have taught us at school (like doing the 9-times table with your fingers – but that will have to wait for another day).

Anyway, back to Jinxes. My next is a pain for me, but a boon for everyone else. If there is a flying, biting insect within ten miles, it will find me and tuck in for its bloody lunch. When I say that my nearest and dearest benefit from this, I don’t mean that they like to see me pink and scratching, but they all get off Scot free while I provide the feast for the midges.

I must give off some sort of aroma which (I hope) can’t be detected by humans, but which flags me up as a particularly juicy target. Read the rest of this entry »

I hesitate to tell you this – because I admired Diana Wynne Jones’ writing a great deal and I realize the blog theme is in her honour – but honesty compels me to share that I don’t believe in jinxes, curses or superstition. I know. What’s the point of being a writer if you can’t pretend there are more things in heaven and earth? Surely I should just revisit my parents’ advice and consider a career in something sensible.

I don’t doubt for one minute that Diana Wynne Jones did have no end of mishaps whilst traveling. But no matter how hard I try I can’t stop my treacherous little brain whispering, ‘well she probably traveled a lot didn’t she? More than the average person anyway which would mean her chances of encountering misfortune were therefore significantly higher than the norm.’

It’s a very unimaginative way of looking at things. But in my defence a lack of respect for superstition was one of the things I really loved about the smugglers who partly inspired the backstory in both Mistress of the Storm and Heart of Stone.

I grew up on the Isle of Wight, which has a long and proud history of smuggling (we’ve even got a theme park dedicated to the subject …yes, again I know but actually it’s pretty cool). Anyway, there is a road on the Island, near the center, known locally as Betty Haunt Lane. And the popular story about that track, even today, is that Betty was a smuggler’s daughter who fell in love with a customs man.

Later, apparently, she betrayed both her father and her smuggler friends by reporting them to the authorities. Read the rest of this entry »

Last week we were very proud to publish Diana Wynne Jones’ Reflections: On the Magic of Writing.  The book is a collection of essays, talks and insights from the great fantasy writer,  as well as interview material and notes on Diana by some of those closest to her.  It is a fascinating read for any fan of Diana’s stories, but also for any writer or reader of fiction.  Diana was a very charismatic person and her liveliness comes across in Reflections. 

‘Diana would talk about her “travel jinx”, and I thought she was exaggerating until we had to fly to America on the same plane. The plane we were meant to fly on was taken out of commission after the door fell off, and it took many hours to get another plane. Diana accepted this as a normal part of the usual business of travel. Doors fell off planes. Sunken islands rose up beneath you if you were in boats. Cars simply and inexplicably ceased to function. Trains with Diana on them went to places they had never been before and technically could not have gone.’ (From Neil Gaiman’s foreword to Reflections)

Diana always maintained that she was cursed with a travel jinx.  For the next round of Storyblogs, we’re asking our DFB authors about their own curses, jinxes and superstitions..  Do they have any, or have they had encounters with other people’s?  And if not, we’d like to hear our DFB storytellers INVENT some truly brilliant jinxes.. So keep your eyes on the Storyblog.

 @dfb_storyhouse  

Why not take a look around this gallery of celebrity portraits.. which have all been produced by the celebrities themselves!  You can even join in by bidding to win one.  Money raised is for The Prince’s Foundation for Children and the Arts.   Can you spot which DFB author has submitted their own self-portrait??

Happy Bank Holiday weekend!

• Describe the place where you write/draw.

In the Annexe. The Annexe is a studio full of very lovely Brighton illustrators and designers. I love the quiet energy that the place has as everyone settles into their work. There is a hot water urn for tea which takes a long time to boil, a temperamental coffee maker which I don’t understand, two studio dogs and a big sky light which makes me feel as if we are in Noah’s Ark when it rains.

My space has a desk, chair, some shelving and I share part of the lovely illustrator Penny Dann’s space. Her light box is brilliant – big enough to stand up and work at, which is great so that you aren’t always leaning over your desk or staring at a screen. I have brought in a portion of my children’s book collection to inspire me when my mind goes fuzzy – books by Elizabeth Goudge, Emma Chichester Clarke, Satoshi Kitamura, Mervyn Peake, Edward Gorey, David Lucas, Neil Gaiman, Dave Mckean are some of the ones I keep referring back to. My very favourite ‘writer’s book’ though is ‘The Writer’s Journey’ by Christopher Vogler – my tutor Graham Rawle recommended that one and it’s truly a bit of a writer’s bible. Oh yes, there are also studio mice which keep nibbling things.

• What is your most treasured possession?

I don’t really treasure possessions, but if I had a collection of auriculas, a bit like this illustration, then I would treasure them.

  Read the rest of this entry »

●      Describe the place where you write/draw.

It seems rather odd, but I get most of my writing done on the train on the way to work (I have a ‘real’ job as well as making comics, but it is considerably less fun). At home there are lots of fun things for me to fiddle with, so I find the train a much less distracting place (as long as the person on the seat next to me isn’t poking me with their elbow).

I do my drawing in a cave at the centre of the earth.

●      What is your most treasured possession?

I tend not to really get attached to physical objects – there’s nothing in my house that’s really irreplaceable. That said, I do always feel very emotional when it comes to throwing away toothbrushes – they served me so loyally, and this is how I repay them? I feel like I’ve betrayed them every time. (also: shoes)

●      What times of the day do you work?

Because I have another job I have to do all my work either early in the morning or late at night, which probably explains why all my drawings look like I did them while I was half asleep.

●      What distracts you?

The distraction gnome that lives on my shoulder. He is always trying to get me to play computer games with him, but I try not to listen.

Read the rest of this entry »

Describe the place where you write/draw.

It’s the back bedroom of our  house in Cambridge. My study, which is lined with white bookshelves has pale mauve and pale pink walls but doesn’t look girly at all. I have a pale wooden desk with a three drawer chest under it to the left of my legs. The view from the window is over the garden with a lovely sycamore tree in it and I sit with my back to that and looking at my bookshelves which remind me that I used to be able to do this writing thing! On the  wall above the double bed are pictures of my covers etc. The double bed is there because this room doubles as a guest room.

What is your most treasured possession?

My photographs and a painting that hangs in my kitchen.

What times of the day do you work?

Usually 2-5 ish in the afternoon.

What distracts you?

Everything! Twitter, email, post arriving, making salad for lunch, reading papers on the computer. ANYTHING AT ALL.

What is your favourite smell?

Nice food cooking. Or for perfume, currently either Vivienne Westwood’s Boudoir  or Thierry Mugler’s Angel.

Cat or dog?

CAT! I love them.

What is your guiltiest pleasure?

Watching too much mediocre television.

What is the worst job you’ve done?

Being a tour guide in Dar-es-salaam. In French.

What was the last song you sang along to?

I don’t sing along, I just sing. Almost all the time I have a song going through my head. Last one I can remember was You’re the top by Cole Porter.

If you could go back in time, where would you go?

Just before the First World War. I like the clothes. Almost any historical period would be quite interesting as long as you didn’t have to stay in it. I would not like to live in a time before antibiotics.

What are you reading at the moment?

Have just finished lots of prize winning books so a thriller is called for. Michael Connelly’s THE FIFTH WITNESS.

If you weren’t an author, what would you be?

A Country and Western singer.  That’s the dream/ fantasy. Probably the truth would be: a retired teacher of French.

Adèle Geras has written more than 90 books for children of all ages and for adults. She lives in Cambridge and contributes to blogs such as THE HISTORY GIRLS and AN AWFULLY BIG BLOG ADVENTURE.  Do explore her website, www.adelegeras.com. Have you read Adele’s Magic Bean? It is a retelling of the fairytale classic, The Six Swan Brothers.

Describe the place where you write/draw

I can’t work at a desk! I will work anywhere in my house, usually in my dining room or on the sofa. I have to be relaxed and comfortable to be able to be creative. I have various sketchbooks and my laptop scattered around the house.

What is your most treasured possession?

 I can’t be specific on this either as I have too many things I can’t live without! Some of my favourite possessions are books signed by fellow authors and illustrators, I have quite a nice collection now. I did an event recently with Marc Boutavant – the amazingly talented french illustrator and he signed a ‘Mouk’ book for me. He spent ages doing a beautiful drawing on the title page, in fact he spent so long doing the drawing he didn’t get to eat much of his dinner before we went on stage.

What times of the day do you work? All day, every day. I do stop sometimes but I don’t have a strict routine! Once I worked until dawn to try and meet a deadline, needless to say I wasn’t very productive the next day so now I do try to be sensible and have lots of bourbon biscuit breaks.

What distracts you?

Twitter, tea, my family, random ideas for stories, things in the fridge. I live on a busy residential street and there are always people to spy on out the window if I’m bored!

What is your favourite smell?

Damp leaves in the wood after it has rained…. ooh and grass cuttings.

Cat or dog?

Dog, I have one and we do dog agility together (the thing they do at Crufts with jumps, obstacles and tunnels, except we’re not quite to competition standard!). Here is a picture of him in the sea, he loves to swim too.

Read the rest of this entry »

Describe the place where you write/draw.

These days I have two places that are my official working spaces. Though I often get best ideas for poems, and drafts of poems, on the train to London and back (more usually on the way there, when the mind is bright and fresh, as on the way back I’m usually exhausted by the stimulus of the capital). My main official workzone is a small starter home in a quiet close just round the corner from my ‘family home’. The family home is where I’ve lived with my wife since the late 1980’s and where both of my children were brought up. The starter home is a tiny property we bought about 8 years ago when we needed a larger house for the four of us but couldn’t afford it. These days it’s like a kind of extension to our small terraced town house. It’s used by guests or by our children (now in their 20’s) when they come to visit. So I’ve adopted it as my study/office for most of the year. The other place I write is a small back bedroom in the family home. It used to be my daughter’s bedroom and has a small balcony/flat-roof looking onto a garden space with lots of mature trees. Both places are fairly quiet in the working day. The garden space is full of birdsong much of the time. I don’t mind that.

What is your most treasured possession?

I don’t much treasure possessions, now I come to think of it. I’ve always lived with a strong sense of transience, certainly since I was a student. It may have started with studying medieval literature as an undergraduate. All that memento mori stuff and charnel houses and meditations on the brevity of life etc. And then it will have been enhanced by getting interested in Hinduism and Buddhism across my 20’s. If I have to give an answer, then I might say ‘my house’, since we all need a home of some kind or other to live in, at least in Britain where it’s cold and wet a lot of the time. And since I spend my time reading and writing and I need to be fairly warm and dry and comfortable to do that. 

These days accommodation has become increasingly a problem, what with the cost of property and the price of renting. So the fact that I now (at 61) own my own house and have no mortgage makes me feel a bit more secure in respect of being a freelance writer. It’s important to remember, though, that it only takes a war or an earthquake, or even a riot (nb) to destroy a home completely. I could say that my most treasured possession is my material body, as without that I could not be. Without the hardware (my actual physical body) there would be no software (the thoughts, the feelings, the sensory experience etc). So maybe (thinking of King Lear on the blasted heath) my body must be the most treasured possession, material being that it apparently is :)

What times of the day do you work?

It depends how you define ‘work’.  The older I get, the longer I’ve been a ‘freelance writer’ the harder it becomes to define when I am and am not working. I think of myself chiefly as a poet who happens to make most of my actual income through writing verse picture books for children (something I only spend a small amount of my time actual ‘doing’). But I write my verse picture books with as much thought and care as I write my (mostly unpublished) poems. As a poet and a writer I feel my job (and my appetite, my natural inclination) is to be reading, listening, talking, writing and thinking about whatever is coming up in my life. Read the rest of this entry »