Oh Marilla!
Goblins, cats and flowers…
“Oh, Marilla,” she exclaimed one Saturday morning, coming dancing in with her arms full of gorgeous boughs, “I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn't it?
Hey Ravens,
I hope you’re having a fabulous and fiendish Halloween. Our pumpkins are carved, costumes are prepared, and the children have grumpily stomped to school, incandescent with fury that they have to go to school on the 2nd best festival of the year! But there will be festivities tonight, and an unhealthy amount of sweets will be gleefully consumed.
It’s been a rollercoaster of emotions at my desk this month. I don’t know who came up with ‘The 6 Stages of the Creative Process’ but it’s always so true on every project I do (apart from, maybe, step 6 😂).
But I often forget - usually when I’m deep in stage 4. Thankfully this time, to distract myself during a week when I hated everything that came out of my pencil, I watched an archived vlog on Ella Beech’s fabulous substack where she talked about the “last 5%”, and it reminded me that you just don’t know if something truly is shit until you’re pretty much finished. Never ever judge it when you’re half way through! So, after a mercifully brief mid-October blip, I managed to submit my Pathways Into Children’s Publishing Literature Brief 3 with something that I didn’t entirely hate (I’ll share more about the torturous process next month).
One thing that’s really becoming apparent to me as I progress through the Pathways course, is my desire to experiment more with traditional media. The course is so full on, with Literature Briefs that have incredibly tight deadlines, I’ve found myself almost forced into working digitally - simply because it’s fast. But I don’t think I want to spend all my time staring at a screen. Sometimes I find myself jealously dreaming of the more guided experimentation and in-depth exploration I see the students at Cambridge School of Art posting on IG (Pathways is definitely more industry focused, which don’t mistake me, definitely has its perks), but I guess I’m going to have to carve out my own time and space (because the shared family table is a huge barrier) to figure it out - holler if you feel like offering me a free studio space!
In other exciting news, the Folktale Week 2023 prompts have been released. I love Folktale Week, and am really hoping to take part this year. I’m starting to panic though, because inspiration hasn’t yet hit me, and I’ve still no idea what I might do. Are any of you taking part?
In October’s cauldron of magic:
For a long time it’s been a bit lame, but I love floriography. If I were to gift you all a posy it would be a bright cluster of blue hydrangea and goldenrod, with a single sprig of angelica, gathered amounts at trailing of ivy.
Sometimes, in researching answers to my children’s many questions I discover some pretty interesting things, like the new to me fact that in daylight humans can see better than cats.
I’ve long been a fan of the genius of Tove Jannson, but I’m definitely guilty of putting her in the plump little shadow of the Moomintrolls. Her illustration career was so much more - I’m in love with her cover for the Hobbit.
I discovered this little gem of useful tools this month - goblin.tools - game changing.
You know I love tiny things AND collections.
I’m one of those strange people who quite enjoyed maths at school, and I used to think it was because I loved the rules and logic to it. But actually, it’s the beauty that drew me in - “there is no permanent place in the world for ugly mathematics” and much can be said for the elegance of a blackboard and a piece of chalk.
Trains and Halloween, a perfect combination. (If anyone can find me an English translation of Erich Kastner’s poem Allegory of the Train I will be super grateful and you will get a shiny gold star!)
This is a heavy one, and I include it here with a CW: domestic violence/emotional abuse, but this beautiful exploration of storytelling is possibly the most exceptional piece of writing I’ve read all year.
Stay safe tonight, folks whether you be sensibly indoors or braving the night…
Love,
P.S. Please, please, please take my survey to improve The Quiet Blackbird - this is your last opportunity before I start making changes…
Question of the month: What should I draw for Folktale Week?
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