Celia Leofsy Blog - The Company of Goblins

Hythe Waterside Arts Festival 2015

13/7/2015

I had an amazing day at the Hythe Waterside Arts Festival on Saturday. People popped in and out of The Herald all morning to buy books and to chat to the authors. In the line-up this year, apart from me, were Cathy Woodman, best-selling author of a popular vet series, Suzan Houching, with her New Forest artist’s story, Gervase Gregory, another New Forest artist, Simon, with his amazing illustrations in the Ceratopia books and Martin Bradley, author and illustrator of the Sky Hunter Books. Here we all are below ...

Hythe Waterside Festival

Hythe Waterside Festival

Hythe Waterside Festival

Hythe Library

The Festival took place between the 9th and 12th July but I think the best day to go was Saturday – “Family Fun Day”. The free open air entertainment started at 10am and included choirs, musicians, theatre, dancers, street entertainers, and a portrait painting workshop all day. There was even Hythe’s own Ukulele Group with Gervase Gregory as one of the players to entertain people in the street.

In the afternoon I took part in Hythe Library’s “Crafternoon” celebrations. It was a lovely big library, and there was room for all sorts of crafts. I’d like to say a big thank you to all the library staff for making everyone so welcome and for looking after us so well, and of course a big thank you to The Herald – I’m looking forward to the next one already!

Netley Abbey Junior School Visit

28/6/2015

Netley Abbey Junior School Visit

Orlando and I really enjoyed our visit to Netley Abbey Junior School last Friday. We were given a terrific welcome by all the children and the staff.

Many of the children already had copies of ‘The Company of Goblins’ and said it was the best adventure story ever. I was delighted to find it was being read in class. There are free sessions to download that accompany the book here.

Two of the children presented me with their drawings which you can see below, and of course, they will be added to The Goblin Gallery. I really like them, they are great - I especially like the big red wart on the nose of the goblin to the right!

Another student wrote to me outlining the plot for her very own novel – a fantastic achievement. Please keep writing, Abbey, your ideas are extremely interesting and very inventive.

There were lots of interesting questions:

What sort of story would I write after I’d completed the trilogy?
Who was my favourite character in The Company of Goblins?
How long did it take me to write the first book?
What was it like in Egypt, and in which city did I live?
Which mythical creature did I like the best?
Who were my favourite authors now? And,
What was my favourite book as child?

When I answered that ‘The Faraway Tree’ had been my favourite book, all the children let out a gasp and nodded in agreement. I’m so pleased that the very first book I enjoyed is still going strong today.

I know there are many keen young writers at Netley Abbey Junior School, I’d like to wish you all lots of luck for the future - one or more of you could be best selling authors, just keep reading and writing!

Arts and Crafternoon - Hythe Library

9/6/2015

As part of the Waterside Arts Summer Festival, the Hythe Library has organised an Arts and Crafternoon on Saturday 11th July 2015. Plus they are launching this year’s Summer Reading Challenge!

So please come and join me at the library on Saturday afternoon, 11th July. I will be available for a book signing, everyone is welcome. Ask me about goblins, Anglo-Saxon and Norse Mythology, and why story telling is important to our culture. Have you ever wondered how folktales and legends start? Are they just made-up stories, or do they have any truth to them? Come along and find out.

Waterstones Book Signing and Talk

3/6/2015

Children’s Workshop – Waterstones, Ringwood, 29th May 2015.

I had a terrific morning last Friday; my publisher arranged for a filming opportunity at Waterstones, Ringwood, a bright, colourful and welcoming bookshop with a terrific café that has locally made cakes and biscuits including a gluten free selection – yum!

The children really enjoyed my talk about mythical creatures, and made up some wonderful combinations of their own. Tiger, aged 7, drew a lion goblin, which had wings as well as a unicorn horn growing out of its head. All the pictures can be seen in my last blog, below, and also in the "Goblin Gallery".

In my talk I describe the Nixies, powerful water demons who lurk in dangerous pools of water. In one of the drawings Orlando is shown swimming with a rubber ring. I’m really pleased that Jude, aged 10, wanted to look after him. Orlando was pleased too, and took great delight in posing for a number of sketches which the children took home.

Some questions I was asked were: ‘Can you earn a living as a writer?’ ‘How long did it take you to write your first book?’ And, ‘Why do the Icelandic people still believe that “The Secret People” help protect them from earthquakes when nowadays everyone knows about the movement of the tectonic plates?’

I visited Iceland last year. Whilst the Icelanders know about the tectonic plates, they also like to keep their traditions and folktales alive - because remember that folktales are a way of passing important information down through generations and not everything in them is just make-believe. The same can be said of Norway. In dangerous and inhospitable places local people are more aware that science can’t explain everything - for example exactly when a volcano will next erupt - so perhaps they don’t want to take even the smallest chance that elves, fairies, and magic aren’t real. Also, wouldn’t it be a shame if we forgot all those stories about trolls, mermaids, ogres, dwarfs, and elves – I wouldn’t have anything to write about!

For more photographs of the event and more sketches, follow the link to my publisher Little Knoll Press. And remember, the video will be coming soon.

You can watch a VIDEO of this workshop by following this link – WATCH HERE!

Waterstones Workshop - Ringwood

19/5/2015

Half-Term Children’s Workshop at Waterstones, Ringwood Friday 29th May 2015

Stuck for something fun to do during half-term? Come and join me at Waterstones, Ringwood, for a children’s workshop of myths, legends, storytelling and sketching. Waterstones are helping my publisher run and film the workshop, so we will need the consent of a parent or guardian to take part. You will find me in the children’s corner or the café from 9.30 – 12am.

Please follow the link to Waterstones below.

Waterstones, Ringwood, 16-17 The Furlong Centre BH24 1AT

Waterside Arts Festival 2015

3/5/2015

Waterside Arts Festival

The 2015 Waterside Summer Arts Festival will take place between 9th and 12th July in The Waterside area of The New Forest with events in both Hythe and Marchwood. It will be the 22nd annual Festival.

Join me for the "Family Fun Day" on Saturday 11th July. You will be able to find me at The Hythe Herald in the morning, where I will be signing copies of The Company of Goblins, and pleased to answer any questions on publishing and my books. The "Family Fun Day" starts at 10am when there will be musicians, dancers, street entertainers, theatre and more in Hythe Village Centre, and all for free.

Follow the link to the 2015 Waterside Arts Festival to find out more!

HWS Gala Evening

25/4/2015

Hampshire Writers’ Society Gala Evening - Lady Antonia Fraser in Conversation with John Miller.
Tuesday 9th June from 6pm

Please come along to Winchester University and enjoy an evening with one of Britain’s most versatile and respected authors. There will be a host of VIPs to rub shoulders with from all aspects of the publishing world, including dignitaries from Winchester University and Winchester City, as well as free strawberries and cream.

There will also be a celebration of HWS Authors at the Book Fair in the Foyer. I was thrilled to be invited to be one of them to promote my book The Company of Goblins.

Other invited authors include: Claire Fuller, Richard Frankland, Sue Spiers, Dai Henley, Damon L Wakes, and Sharon Garrett.

Members are free and Guests are welcome for only £5

There is also a competition to test your writing skills: ‘Write the first page of a memoir of a real or imaginary person.’ Entries should be emailed to the Competitions Secretary of the HWS by noon 1st June 2015: [email protected]

Please read the rules on the HWS Website, or follow the link for more information.

World Book Day - Newtown School

8/3/2015

I visited Newtown C of E Primary School for World Book Day. I got a terrific welcome from the children, over 400 of them, and their teachers.

Everyone made a special effort to come as characters from their favourite books or films. There were beautiful costumes such as Princess Elsa, Alice in Wonderland, The Cat in the Hat, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, Superman, Mary Poppins, and there was even an Annie. The children guessed my character right away when I banged a walking stick on the floor – of course I was Nanny McPhee!

World Book Day

World Book Day

Some of the children presented me with their drawings before I left. There were goblins, mermaids, and all sorts of fantastical creatures with description as well. I was really pleased to see some "good" goblins even though they looked evil! It is very important to never judge anyone or anything by how it may seem at first sight.

The drawings will be uploaded into my Goblin Gallery, but I'm also posting them in my blog, below, because they were all so good - just click on them for a bigger sized image.

Remember - keep reading, keep writing, and keep on drawing.

Brune Park School Visit

26/2/2015

I had a wonderful welcome from the pupils in year 8 at Brune Park School yesterday. One student had a special interest in Norse Mythology and another had already designed her own mythical creature for a Games Quest series. I was also delighted to find that most of the children liked writing poetry – another one of my favourite hobbies.

The pupils were really enthusiastic and especially interested in how I did my research. Although a great deal of my research is done online and by reading, the fun part is going to visit places for real – it gives that extra authenticity. Places I have visited so far are Camberley, Anglesey, London, the IOW, and the Lake District for books one and two, and Norway and Iceland for book three, The Last Idesa.

The students wanted to know about the writing process – how did I write? Did I plan everything before I started or did I write ‘organically’? I explained that everyone is different and everyone finds their own method. Nothing is right or wrong, and, the only way to learn how to become a writer is to write.

I was asked how I first became interested in writing. I said that I had always loved drawing as much as writing so my first attempts were therefore comic strips. Comics and cartoons are a really fun way of getting into writing – Stardust, the award winning novel, and blockbuster film, was originally written as a comic for DC comics. All my books are illustrated.

Thank you all for a very enjoyable visit, and happy reading. I hope you continue to enjoy The Company of Goblins!

Beaulieu Village Primary School

28/1/2015

Beaulieu Primary School

I was given a big welcome by the children in Mrs White’s class yesterday. They have just started learning about Anglo-Saxon history and found my talk on Anglo-Saxon and Norse Mythology very interesting. In my talk, I explain the links with nature, as well as how mythology influenced the Anglo-Saxon culture. Also, everyone loves goblins! I was told my sketch of a goblin was the best ever – so I’m sure the class will be keen to draw their own goblins and make up their own mythical creatures, with descriptions, to go up on display.

Beaulieu School Goblin Fans

Drawing Goblins

Beaulieu School With Goblin Book

The children wanted to know my favourite author and my favourite book. I found that ‘The Faraway Tree’ by Enid Blyton, my favourite as a child, was still very popular. Other questions were - How long I had taken to write my book? Was I was proud of it? And, which of my books did I like the best? The answer to the last question is - I like them all, because I really enjoyed writing them ... but my first book has to be my favourite because that’s where it all started, both for me and for Izzy’s adventure - you can find a hint of where the adventure leads in my ‘Books Section’ (or follow the link).

My visit finished with an assembly for the whole school where I spoke about my journey to publication. The head teacher, Mrs Noble, asked the children who liked to read and quite a few hands went up. But when she asked the children who liked to write – every hand in the room shot up. So I am sure there will be lots of entries for the BBC’s ‘500Words Competition’ from Beaulieu School.