Gothic book talk

Quite a while ago I went to the British library to attend a talk with authors Chris Riddell, Chris Priestly and Sally Gardner. Being a fan of some of both Chris Riddell’s and Sally Gardner’s books I thought that it could be interesting to hear them talk about their works and writing gothic teen fiction.

After delayed trains and people at reception leading us in lots of different directions, we eventually found the room and the talk had only just started.

Chris Riddell spoke about his book series ‘Goth Girl,’ and discussed how he makes the books engaging and appropriate for the audience, as well as giving us some examples of puns he has used (some of which were pretty funny and clever, I must admit). Then Sally Gardner discussed her book, ‘Tinder,’ which was based on one of her favourite fairytales, ‘The Tinder Box.’ It was written with the intention of having an anti-war message. The extract she read us was engaging and very well worded, packed with detailed descriptions which made it easier to visualise. I would’ve loved to have heard more as it was very interesting. Chris Priestly then read us two of his short stories which were exactly 247 words each. They were impressively concise, still containing interesting story lines and descriptions. I liked the sinister nature of them, which added to the gothic feel. The deaths were subtle, not blatantly stating the fact that a character had died but using interesting descriptions instead.

Next they all discussed how they’d been to art college and how important illustrations can be in books. They spoke about their interests in drawing and how they’ve always enjoyed art. Whilst the others were speaking, Riddell decided to draw a few drawings to illustrate things that they had said, and they were all hilarious and brilliantly drawn. It’s so impressive how quickly he can draw from imagination and how unique his style is. He also showed us his sketchbook, filled with lots of random character drawings. I really love his drawings.

A discussed topic was the sense of “otherness” that accompanies the gothic genre, which they liked the idea of and thought that they could relate to, many of them not initially being over-popular due to their different interests, etc. They discussed the individuality and quirkiness of the style. I found it interesting to see the types of people in the audience, as many of them had adopted a gothic clothing style. A few of them had top hats and big boots, and the prominent colour being worn was black.

The talk was thoroughly enjoyable, covering many different topics, and afterwards we got to meet the authors. I spoke to Sally Gardener and Chris Riddell, getting some of their books that I owned signed. They were really nice to talk to, and I spoke to Riddell about his interest in art and how he attained his style and learnt to draw so well. He told me that it’s important to continuously practise drawing and to copy artists’ work if you like their style, to get a feel for how they draw.

Chris Riddell also drew me a drawing, which was pretty cool.

An MI High Story

I wrote a short story a while ago about a mission for Keri, which I feel the need to put up on my blog as I put a surprising amount of effort into it. It was loads of fun to write! I formatted it as a book as well, with the cover inspired by Harry Potter, so a PDF of that can be found HERE.

The front cover is shown below, although it doesn’t include a picture of Keri because there are very few good quality pictures of her as she was new to MI High when I created this.

 So here’s my story:

Keri wandered around the school, admiring the work of fellow students on the wall and laughing at the misused apostrophes and forced semicolons. ‘What a rubbish school this is’ she thought to herself. ‘We don’t even do GCSEs, and none of the teachers know anything!’

Keri walked down the echoing corridors. Although everyone was in a class, the noise of loud children and unproductive lessons carried around the school. Keri reached the store cupboard and looked around secretively. ‘Good, no one here!’ she thought to herself, ‘Now time for something cool,’ Keri slid back the switch outside the door to reveal a thumbprint system. She scanned her finger and the door swung open, inviting her in. 

As Keri pulled back the broom in the cupboard she was flung downwards at a shocking speed, her hair flying upwards and her clothing somehow changing itself in this process. She stepped out of the lift, looking at the tight black clothes she was dressed in and smiling in approval. “Being a spy is the coolest job ever.”

“Welcome back to MI High” Frank said. “I’m glad you got my message. I’ve got a mission for you, but Aneisha, Tom and Dan are on a school trip. This is a big responsibility for you, but I’m afraid you’ll have to do it on your own.”

“Well I’ll try my best!” said Keri enthusiastically. “School spies are seriously underestimated!”

“You’re right.” replied Frank. “There’s a little bakery, ‘Brian’s Bakery,’ just down the road that’s just started up. We think it has something to do with the sudden strange behaviour of local people. Just look at this!” Frank showed Keri a video of people from St Hearts school running around and yelling, “We want cakes! We want cookies! We want Brian’s Bakery!”

“Oh.” Said Keri. “That’s pretty dodgy!”

“Your job is to find out just what Brian’s Bakery is doing. It’s not just children at St Hearts that are acting this way, but people everywhere, even the Prime Minister is reported to be a great supporter of Brian’s Bakery. Something seems pretty strange.”

“I’m on to it.”

“Oh, and one last thing, Keri. Here are some random gadgets that you may find useful – a spy pod to find out about the people you meet on, a coat which changes into a parachute and high heeled boots which can activate a laser out of the heel, responsive to your command.”

“Niiice!” said Keri, admiring the gadgets. “Do they do these shoes in red?”

Frank sighed and buried his face in his hands, “Just focus on the mission please Keri.”

Two hours later Keri had managed to fool her head teacher Mr Flatley into thinking that she was on an environmental project run by the government in order to escape school. She went to Brian’s Bakery, dressed especially for the job – she looked much older in her bright orange wig and jet black suit, finished off with the high-heels and jacket that Frank had given to her.

“Hi.” Keri said when addressing the bald man at the desk in the bakery store, “I’m here from the Food Hygiene Scheme, to check how clean your bakery is. Don’t worry; it’s just a basic procedure that the government have to follow for any new food-based shops.”

The man examined Keri, not seeming to believe Keri’s story, but Keri flashed an ID card confirming her story which MI9 had given her. “Oh come through then, but there ain’t nothing to see ‘ere, love.” The man said, leading her behind a screen into the back of the building.

“I’d like to be on my own, if that’s alright? You know, it’s all part of the strict regulations.” Keri said, keeping the screen held for the man to exit. Once he’d left Keri examined everything, taking in the ingredients and layout of the area, but nothing shocking or surprising was apparent to her. ‘Oh dear,’ she thought to herself. ‘Frank won’t be impressed at all. I need to come back with something good. This is my chance to shine! I want him to know that I’m a good spy.’

Then suddenly she heard it. It wasn’t loud but it was definitely there, a muffled noise, the noise of a person trying to speak. As she went further into the room it grow, and the sound of the person’s fear and desperation became apparent to her. “I’ll let you out,” she whispered, hoping that this may provide some comfort for the person. 

She tracked down the source of the noise – it was coming from the trap door under the floorboards. A man tied up and gagged was revealed to her when she pulled back the ingredient boxes and lifted up some loose panels. He was trembling, his face red from screaming and tears sat in his eyes; he was in a terrible state. Keri untied him and found him some water and food, but the man was too tired to speak. Eventually he whispered, “I’m the real Brian. He’s taken over my bakeries. I don’t know what he’s doing but I can bet you it’s dodgy.”

Just then the fake Brian arrived, and the two men looked so similar that side by side they were practically impossible to tell apart. “You’re a copy of Brian! An android!” Keri exclaimed. “You look exactly the same!”

The fake Brian replied in a woman’s voice, “I copied his genetic sequence. Now I, the Crime Minister, can control my copy of Brian!”

“The Crime Minister!” Keri shrieked. “I should have known you’d be behind this all.” Then Keri ran at the fake Brian, forcing her fingers into his back and twisting to make his face twist and his body fall to the floor. “Five Finger Twist!” Keri laughed. “It works on androids too!” “Not so fast!” boomed the voice of the Crime Minister. “You may have broken my android but you haven’t destroyed me.” A mist filled the room and almost immediately died down, and there she was, suddenly standing before her. “Oooh, I do love a dramatic entry!” she shrieked and her cackling laugh rang through the room.

“What you’re doing is wrong!” Keri exclaimed. “What are you even planning on doing?”

“With Brian’s Bakery being controlled by me I can be in control of the whole world, just you watch me. The drugs I put into the food here are highly addictive but also make people respond to my command. They will work for me and give me all their money!” She smiled to herself smugly.

“You won’t get away with it; I won’t let you!” Keri yelled angrily.

“Oh won’t I?” asked the Crime Minister, as several of the ingredients boxes opened up to reveal robots armed with guns. “I’ll kill you first,” she spat cruelly.

“Oh really?” questioned Keri. “Well I have a secret up my sleeve, or should I say on my shoes?” and with that she pulled off her high-heeled shoes and aimed the lasers at the robots, activating them and making the robots fall to the floor.

“My army!” the Crime Minister cried out, running to her fallen robots. “You’ve caused too much damage, stupid school child. You will never win – just give in now and I’ll let you rule the world with me! I’ve always wanted a daughter and I can see that our minds think alike”

“No!” yelled Keri, and she pulled off her coat and surrounded the crime minister in the parachute. “I had my doubts about the use of this gadget,” Keri laughed, looking down at the Crime Minister frantically trying to escape from the grasp of the parachute she was entangled in, “but this parachute has saved my life.” Keri proudly pulled out a pair of handcuffs and took pleasure in placing them on the Crime Minister. “Who would have guessed it?” she said to herself, “Keri saves the day!”