A Wild Welcome

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A Wild Welcome (2001) Post 167

A Wild Welcome is a historical story about Fleur Hastings, who sails on the ship Kingdom from England with her French mama, English papa, two little brothers and an Irish nursemaid. Kingdom is a privately owned ship, and Fleur's father is the captain. After a short stay in Sydney Town, Captain Hastings heads south to Van Diemens Land, very much to his wife's displeasure. A storm blows up, Mrs Hastings is knocked unconscious and the captain needs some straight talking from his daughter before he stops blaming himself and gets to practical work.

Kingdom runs aground but not all is lost; everyone, including Fleur's kitten, survives the wreck. It seems they have a new home on King Island.

Fleur's family is fictional, but there were private immigrant ships, King Island is the site of a great many wrecks, and there was indeed one incident in which everyone waded to safety, including the ship's cat.

My pen name on this one was Edward E.B. Cracker. Edward seems to have a penchant for sea stories.

About the Blog 

Sally is Sally Odgers; author, manuscript assessor, editor, anthologist and reader. She runs http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com and Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)

The goal for 2017 is to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. If you enjoyed a post, or want to ask about any of my books or my manuscript assessment service, leave me a message.

Terrible Twinge

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Terrible Twinge (2000) Post 166

Terrible Twinge is the story of Ceridwen and Rhys Morgan, twins of around eleven, who have always been quarrelsome to the point where they are the subject of regular discussion by their parents and the teachers at their school. Ceri has reached a point where she is actually tired of the sniping and one up-man-ship. Their rivalry in sports has reached a point where Rhys is now pulling ahead simply by virtue of being male and having bigger muscles, and his gloating is so annoying Ceri wants to disengage. She realises she has come to dislike him and fantasises about being an only child. When she school receives funds for a six week extension program, offering Drama and Outdoor Education, both twins incline towards Out-Ed but Ceri deliberately picks Drama simply to avoid being with Rhys. The principal, needing to fulfil gender-balance requirements, shuffles several Drama-inclined girls into Out-Ed. This lands the Terrible Twinge as the Morgans are known back in the same activity, so the principal puts Rhys into Drama.

Ceri flourishes on the rope courses but Rhys, having failed to bargain, whinge and protest his way out of Drama, decides to make himself so annoying he'll be tossed out. This fails, when the principal, awake to his ruse, says he won't be tossed out, but coached every lunch time until the deliberate failure ends. Annoyed, Rhys is forced to comply but finds to his alarm that he has been stuffing up so long he now can't do well even when he tries...

Ceri, finding him moping after being mocked at school, feels reluctantly that just as she's been encouraging Trish, a natural wimp, out on the rope course, now she must, for the sake of her family pride, encourage her terrible twinge. The teachers are astonished to find Ceri has joined her brother voluntarily in detention and is actually hearing his lines.

This story has an interesting aftermath. Not long after it was published, I had an email from a man named Rhys Morgan who had a sister named Ceridwen... he was from New Zealand, I think, and was quite tickled to find his name in a book. Obviously, I was being aggressively Welsh at the time I wrote this. (I am fascinated by names and sometimes go a bit OTT just for fun.) This one came out under my Nicholas Flynn pen name.

Speaking of Welshness... many years later, in Long Ago Love Songs, (Post 96,2016), I Welshed out again in the following poem...

      The Swan of Llanlewellyn

Llanlewellyn’s a coal mining place

Where the badge of the locals

 is a smudge to the face

Where the voices peal on a daffodil night

And a leek in a cap is considered just right

Llanlewellyn is aggressively Welsh

I’d have never believed

Had I not seen

For myself

The valleys and the coal are a grand cliché

And the men all sing

‘cause that’s just their way

Where the daffodils bloom

in a bitter spring

Then a leek on a banner is an obvious thing

Llanlewellyn is aggressively Welsh

I’d have never believed

Had I not seen

For myself

Now I am as English as my mum’s tea tray

And a buttered Sally Lunn

and a long wet day

So what was I doing

in this leek-ridden place?

 I’m not a miner (and it’s no disgrace)

Llanlewellyn is aggressively Welsh

I’d have never believed

Had I not seen

For myself

I’d come for a job

that’s not what you expect

It got some odd looks and really no respect

In my old home town so I answered an ad

That called for my talents…

(I must have been mad)

Llanlewellyn is aggressively Welsh

I’d have never believed

Had I not seen

For myself

I came to the place of too many ells

(And how to pronounce it I could not tell)

The station master shushed

with a wet sort of lisp

And the cloud on the mountain!

No filmy wisp

Llanlewellyn is aggressively Welsh

I’d have never believed

Had I not seen

For myself

I hardly understood the address I was told

‘Cause the accent of the valleys

is a sound to behold

Full of LL W and W again

With a Y at the end

that just tangles my brain

Llanlewellyn is aggressively Welsh

I’d have never believed

Had I not seen

For myself

While I was there

with my disbelieving stance

I happened by a pond;

it was just by chance

And dancing on the grass

was a pirouette swan

With a crown of feathers.

That didn’t belong

Llanlewellyn is aggressively Welsh

I’d have never believed

Had I not seen

For myself

I sneaked up closer

and I scrooched behind a tree

So the dancing swan couldn’t quite see me

And I gawked at the leaping ethereal bird

Who just didn’t look like a coal miner’s girl

Llanlewellyn is aggressively Welsh

I’d have never believed

Had I not seen

For myself

She finished in a graceful

drooping sort of way

It meant that the swan was dying

you could say

And I felt silly tears

prick the back of my eyes

And a great big sniffle

caught my nose by surprise

Llanlewellyn is aggressively Welsh

I’d have never believed

Had I not seen

For myself

The drooping swan

bounced up with a squawk

An unavian Oh made me cringe and baulk

I really didn’t wish to show

my guilt-full face

I wanted to sink

out of sight without a trace

Llanlewellyn is aggressively Welsh

I’d have never believed

Had I not seen

For myself

But we don’t always get the exits we intend

So I squared my shoulders

and courage did pretend

“[1]Pwy wyt ti?” asked the white-clad swan

And she stared at me 

with expression un-fond

Llanlewellyn is aggressively Welsh

I’d have never believed

Had I not seen

For myself

“I don’t understand,” I said to the swan

And I gestured to her feathers 

and the pond beyond

She lifted up her arms in an elegant curve

And rose to her toes

as I gathered all my nerve

Llanlewellyn is aggressively Welsh

I’d have never believed

Had I not seen

For myself

I rose to my toes and I strutted and I leapt

In my hiking boots I was not quite so ept

But I soared in the air and landed by her

And offered my arms for the pas de deux

Llanlewellyn is aggressively Welsh

I’d have never believed

Had I not seen

For myself

“[2]Eich bod yn ddawnsiwr!”

said my swan at the end

“[3]Llyn alarch.” But I couldn’t comprehend

I said, “Swan Lake!”

and she answered, “Odette,”

I responded, “Siegfried,” 

and that’s how we met

   Llanlewellyn is aggressively Welsh

I’d have never believed

Had I not seen

For myself

It’s thirty years on and my swan princess

(Whose real name is Gwynneth… 

in case you didn’t guess)

Runs a ballet academy in Llanlew-er

I still can’t pronounce it 

but we’re still a pas de deux

Llanlewellyn is aggressively Welsh

I’d have never believed

Had I not seen

For myself

I’m still as English as my mum’s tea tray

But I’m glad I met my swan

by the pond that day.

---

[1] Who are you?

[2] You are a dancer

[3] Swan Lake

About the Blog 

Sally is Sally Odgers; author, manuscript assessor, editor, anthologist and reader. She runs http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com and Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)

The goal for 2017 is to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. If you enjoyed a post, or want to ask about any of my books or my manuscript assessment service, leave me a message.

Tiger Trail

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Tiger Trail (2001) Post 165

Tiger Trail is a told-in-journal-entries story about young Cassandra whose dad has brought them to Tasmania on a hunt for the Tasmanian tiger or thylacine. Cassandra details Dad's efforts as a committed Tiger-maniac as they travel in the Tiger Mobile, visiting various sites and possibly helpful people. The story has maps and facts and quite a lot of Cassandra's wryly affectionate opinions of Dad and his fellow Tiger-maniacs. Finally they meet an old timer who tells them the story of how he used to see thylacines when he was a boy. Old Mr Holland's story is true; it was told to me by a WW1 veteran back in 2000 when I was doing a residency at Eliza Purton Home for the Aged. I no longer remember his name, but I remember his stories, and this is just one of them.
The pen name I used on this story is Sara Chen. I don't remember where the Chen came from, but Sara is a version of my real first name.

About the Blog 

Sally is Sally Odgers; author, manuscript assessor, editor, anthologist and reader. She runs http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com and Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)

The goal for 2017 is to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. If you enjoyed a post, or want to ask about any of my books or my manuscript assessment service, leave me a message.

The Lion in the Night

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The Lion in the Night (1997) Post 164

The Lion in the Night is the story of Emma who goes to stay with Grandpa, who knows everything. At the zoo, Grandpa can answer Emma's questions. Emma is proud of her educated ancestor. That night, Emma thinks of the polar bear and the lion and suddenly-she hears the lion roaring in the night. It must have followed her home!

Grandpa, when appealed to, can't hear the lion and now neither can Emma. Emma goes back to bed. The lion roars again. Grandpa helps Emma check the house and garden, but the lion is elusive.
The next time Emma hears the lion she realises the sound is coming from Grandpa's room.
A pair of earmuffs solves that little problem.
One thing I remember about this story is that it was about a boy named Toby, but an editor changed Toby into Emma. This kind of thing quite often used to happen in publishing. The weirdest occasion concerned Bob's Gone, which was published as Bobbi's Gone (2002 - Post 12).

About the Blog 

Sally is Sally Odgers; author, manuscript assessor, editor, anthologist and reader. She runs http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com and Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)

The goal for 2017 is to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. If you enjoyed a post, or want to ask about any of my books or my manuscript assessment service, leave me a message.

The Hoop Snake

Welcome to Sally's book-a-day-for-2017 blog. If unfamiliar with the blog, scroll down.

The Hoop Snake (2001) Post 163

The Hoop Snake is the story of Charles, a newly-arrived "pommy new chum" and Aussie Greg, who entertains himself by winding Charles up with tall tales of school and the mythical hoop snake. Charles gets his revenge, but regrets it and puts things right.

The story is set in the 1950s, which is just beyond my memory. Although I can't remember the '50s, I remember the aftermath. Our desks at school had holes for the inkwells used just a few years previously, people still talked about pommies, new chums, New Australians, since the war, and going home. I never did write with a pen nib, but a few of them lingered at home in drawers along with hair ribbons, odd buttons and fuse wire. As for the hoop snake, old timers still used that as a leg-pull. It was a time of the wireless, hard school shoes, Orlon cardigans and petticoats. So, although I cannot remember the 1950s, I remember its reflection...

About the Blog 

Sally is Sally Odgers; author, manuscript assessor, editor, anthologist and reader. She runs http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com and Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)

The goal for 2017 is to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. If you enjoyed a post, or want to ask about any of my books or my manuscript assessment service, leave me a message.

Blue Moon Animal Day

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Blue Moon Animal Day (1987) Post 162

Blue Moon Animal Day is a collection of five rhyming or part-rhyming stories comprising Caroline's Curry, The Frowning Farmer, The Pumpkin's Revenge, P-p-p-Petrified Paul and Blue Moon Animal Day.

I think the stories all began as picture book texts, but ended up in a "writer's collection" title. Looking at the now, I still enjoy them but I can see why they wouldn't have worked as picture book texts; far too macabre by half.

Here are some samples from three of the stories giving the tone and format:


Caroline's Curry

Caroline was rather cross

 and so were Mum and Dad

She thought that they were mean to her;

They said that she was bad.

They wouldn't let a hammer any nails into the floor

They wouldn't let her paint a face across the kitchen door

They wouldn't let her practice all the magic tricks she knew

They wouldn't even let her near the stove to make a stew

so Caroline was very cross and when she went to bed 

she didn't get a story so she made a plan instead

P-p-p-Petrified Paul

Mrs Witch had a boy known as P-p-p-Paul

Who would go in her garden to play

For a mum she was odd

But she'd watch him and nod and every morning she’d say …

The Pumpkin's Revenge

“I do regret that blood and bone,” yelled Peter, pounding with the stone

“and as for that manure too, I wish I'd left it at the zoo!”

The pumpkins grabbed him round the legs

“Traitor!” howled the monster veg 

 “Eat us eh?” a pumpkin said, bopping Peter on the head

But Peter didn't stop to talk

He grimly chopped that pumpkin’s stalk

The stories, especially The Pumpkin's Revenge and Caroline's Curry read aloud wonderfully well... The book is long out of print now.

About the Blog 

Sally is Sally Odgers; author, manuscript assessor, editor, anthologist and reader. She runs http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com and Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)

The goal for 2017 is to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. If you enjoyed a post, or want to ask about any of my books or my manuscript assessment service, leave me a message.

The Trojan Horse

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The Trojan Horse (2008) Post 161

The Trojan Horse is one of a set of non-fiction titles I wrote as a commission. Each of these had its challenges; mostly because the subject matter, although enticing for children, has aspects that are upsetting or difficult to explain in sufficiently simple terms. The Trojan Horse is a tale of adultery, murder war and mayhem. The romanticism of the face that launched a thousand ships doesn't detract from the fact that no one comes out of the story well. It's a rip-roaring and richly emotional and dramatic plot, but really... all the Trojan men killed off and the women and children enslaved...whoever thought that was suitable for children? Nevertheless, kids have been reading and enjoying Greek mythstory for many years; me included, so maybe they're tougher than we think. (Mind you, my favourite storybook of yore, The Shining Ones, did leave me with some odd impressions of the Greek myths so bowdlerised was it.

About the Blog 

Sally is Sally Odgers; author, manuscript assessor, editor, anthologist and reader. She runs http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com and Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)

The goal for 2017 is to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. If you enjoyed a post, or want to ask about any of my books or my manuscript assessment service, leave me a message.

Laura's Journey to the Stars

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Laura's Journey to the Stars (2004) Post 160

Laura's Journey to the Stars is a bit of an oddity for me. It was (and probably still is) a German picture book. The small print says "translated by Sally Odgers" which implies I can speak or at least read German. I can't, though I did pick up a few words via Inspector Rex. The editor who hired me for this job provided a raw English translation and asked me to put it into picture book style. I did. The book duly came out and I discovered just today that it has now become an ap. I think it was the second in a series, but know nothing much else about it. It was probably my one and only "translation" job!

About the Blog 

Sally is Sally Odgers; author, manuscript assessor, editor, anthologist and reader. She runs http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com and Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)

The goal for 2017 is to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. If you enjoyed a post, or want to ask about any of my books or my manuscript assessment service, leave me a message.

Syd and the Bad Example

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Syd and the Bad Example (1999) Post 159

Syd and the Bad Example is another of the Olympic Mascot stories about Syd, Millie and Ollie. In this one, Syd is the main character. The complication with these books was in making the mascots' activities relevant to the theme while not referring directly to any athlete. The story begins with Millie calling a Mascot Meeting. Syd is in a hurry, training with the swimmers. Ollie is off to New Zealand and Milllie just wants to get her computer work done. After swimming training, Syd races off to train with the marathon runners, and then hastens off to inspire the long jump people. He is disappointed with his long jump performance and remains after the athletes have gone to practise some more. Millie and Ollie find him slumped in an exhausted sleep (in fact, they fall over him) and the story then deals with the problem of over-training. Mission accomplished!

About the Blog 

Sally is Sally Odgers; author, manuscript assessor, editor, anthologist and reader. She runs http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com and Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)

The goal for 2017 is to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. If you enjoyed a post, or want to ask about any of my books or my manuscript assessment service, leave me a message.

Aunt Victoria's Monster

Welcome to Sally's book-a-day-for-2017 blog. If unfamiliar with the blog, scroll down.

Aunt Victoria's Monster (2001) Post 158

Aunt Victoria's Monster is one of two stories about Toby Juggins, his dad an Dad's sister, Aunt Victoria. Dad is sane, Toby is logical and Aunt Victoria is eccentric. In this story, Aunt Victoria's monster paintings are a hit. When she is invited on to Mimi Maxwell's talk-back show, Aunt Victoria tells the host and viewers that the monsters are real. Ridicule follows, and a developer finds a clue in one of the paintings and sets off to develop Monster Valley. Aunt Victoria and Toby set off to rescue Painty, the Paintbrush Monster, before the developer gets there. Things go from bad to worse when Painty refuses to be relocated because he's developed a taste for peppermints and Aunt Victoria's company... This story, now sixteen years old, is another in which the internet plays a part. Despite the problem of a camera which Aunt Victoria hasn't bothered to replace since Nessie ate it, this book hasn't dated as badly as some from that period. It has a nice little moral dilemma (is truth as important as safety? Should one tell the truth when it will do no good and indeed cause trouble?). It also appears to be a closet Bandinangi story. Bandinangi is never mentioned, but the name of the mayor, Mr Broggen, makes it probable that this is the same person as Villijicacki Broggen, the Hungarian Irishman from that series. Mind you, if it is him, he is hardly the person to bother about a monster in the garden. He owns a Great Dane cross called Hans Broggen and associates with the Archer family who are very odd indeed.


About the Blog 

Sally is Sally Odgers; author, manuscript assessor, editor, anthologist and reader. She runs http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com and Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)

The goal for 2017 is to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. If you enjoyed a post, or want to ask about any of my books or my manuscript assessment service, leave me a message.