MAGIC AT DRYSDALE'S SCHOOL

The 7^th Sprite Sister story is on its way!

It was an iron fist of a winter. For months, a biting easterly wind swept across Norfolk, chilling our bones and making us huddle indoors. When will it end, we kept asking? For months I was unwell and struggled to write. It seemed the cold would never pass and my book would never get finished.

Now, outside my window, the apple tree is covered with buds, clasped tight like tiny little pink fists. We have had the first rain in weeks – a gentle April shower. The air is bright and warming gradually. The birds are busy building their nests, the daffodils are in bloom and Spring feels as if it is finally here.

And I have finished my 7^th Sprite Sisters book, Magic at Drysdale’s School. It feels a good time to be launching what may be my final Sprite story – though I have left enough strands to carry on the series if I change my mind.

Here is the blurb for the back jacket:-

When Zak Ashworth joins Drysdale’s School, the Sprite Sisters and their cousin Verena know that trouble will follow. Zak carries within him the dark power of the screegling – one of the vile subterranean insects that he summoned to Sprite Towers and which brought terrifying danger to the Sprite family.

As Flame anguishes about having a secret magic power and Marina comes face to face with Zak, Ash is led to a mysterious stone. Soon the Sprite Sisters, Verena and Zak are drawn by an Earth power that none can escape. But where Zak goes, the screegling goes too –– and its dark magic will out.

I don’t have a jacket design to show you yet, but it won’t be long. Once that is finished, I shall publish my story as a print-on-demand paperback and as an e-book, the same as the other six titles. The magic of self-publishing is that once you have the component parts assembled, sending out your story to the world takes only a matter of hours.

The first five Sprite stories are set in one year when the sisters are aged 13, 12, 10 and 9 years. The Boy With Hawk-like Eyes – the sixth title – moves the story on two years so that Flame is now 15, Marina is 14, Ash is 12 and Ariel is 11 years old. The easiness chumminess of the sisters in the early stories has given way to teenage doubts and tensions.

In Magic at Drysdale’s School, Flame is wracked with worry about her magic power. Unable to tell her boyfriend Quinn, she feels torn between being honest – as she is, naturally, and wants to be – and having to keep secret one vital part of her being. The result is conflict.

The story follows hard on the heels of The Boy With Hawk-like Eyes and similarly the adults play a less important role. In these stories the magic must be kept absolutely secret and the sisters must make decisions for themselves.

As you might expect, much of the action takes place at Drysdale’s School. Flame and Marina are now weekly boarders at the big independent school, along with their Sprite cousin, Verena. Zak Ashworth has also joined Drysdale’s and his dark magic has followed him. Wary of Zak, the Sprite Sisters refuse to speak to him.

In the earlier Sprite stories, the sisters discovered that Sprite Towers was full of magic. They battled against the evil Glenda Glass and found the way to use their magic power to protect themselves. They discovered a plan that enabled them to travel back to the past, wrestled with an evil ghost and met a relative who had died ninety years ago. Using their magic power to travel through portals, the Sprite Sisters found a way to change the future.

In Magic at Drysdale’s School, Ash is drawn to a large stone outside the school chapel. With her power of Earth she is able to feel the power emanating from the stone. In this story, we enter the world of ley lines – known as dragon lines in China and Geisterwege in Germany. This is a story about Earth energy and magic pathways.

Will the Sprite Sisters continue? That, I don’t know at the moment. I have been approached by a production company and am confident that the Sprite Sisters will make their way to film or television in the next few years. A top Japanese agent is working hard to sell the series in Japan. Things are afoot in the world of the Sprite Sisters.

Meanwhile my creative thinking is moving to The Earth Stories. This trilogy will be set in Breckland, a wild area of West Norfolk inhabited by the Iceni tribe two thousand years ago. With a post-apocalyptic scenario, The Earth Stories will be about a small group of survivors who go back to the Old Ways and use Earth Wisdom. Their shamanic magic is challenged by another group of survivors intent on recreating technology as we know it today.

THE SPRITE SISTERS

Four sisters

Four elements

Four powers

WRITING A SERIES

I am currently writing my seventh Sprite Sister title. Here are some of the things I’ve learned about writing a series for children.

One chance to make a first impression

Your series stands or falls on the strength of your first book. It’s your starting point and everything comes back to that. It defines the characters and their world, and sets up an expectation of what is to come. You have to get it right. If your readers don’t like it, they won’t bother with the second story. 

A series relies on the strength of its characters

It’s the characters you come back to. What’s going to happen to them next? They are your friends: enjoy them and listen to them. Their voices become familiar. You know what they will say and how they will react, but, like your friends, your characters are not static. They need to grow through the challenges you have set them – and you need to move with them.

Continuity

Between 2007-2009, I wrote five Sprite Sister stories in 30 months for Piccadilly Press. On signature of each contract, I had three months writing time. Each book was written in six weeks, and edited in six months, one after the other. It was quite a pace to keep up, but it provided continuity. I enjoyed working fast and it proved financially worthwhile, as Fischer Verlag bought the German rights, pushed the Sprite series and sold over 200,000 books. I’ve lost some continuity with Book 6, which will not be published until 2103 – so a two-year gap. I realise I need to get the Book 7 written as quickly as I can, to make up for lost time and keep my readers with me.

Have a formula

I write each Sprite title to around 55,000 words, with around 24 chapters. I know the shape of the story, where I want the action to arc (at the end of each third of the story), and where to have a ‘beat’. Apart from helping me, having a formula means the reader knows what to expect. For each Piccadilly title, I wrote a synopsis in which the plot was worked out until the last section. The ending came to me as I was ‘in’ the story, fighting the battle. Without the need to provide synopses for Book 6, The Boy With Hawk-like Eyes, and Book 7, Magic at Drysdale’s School (because I am publishing them myself), I’ve worked out the plots as I go. It’s proved a much slower process.

Pace

Come to the point: your reader does not want to faff about. My editor allowed description, but not at the expense of pace. My books are aimed at girls aged 7-12 years. Young readers like detail, especially if it’s quirky or funny, but they want the story to move along at a lick. Action sustains interest.

Play to your strengths

I love reading thrillers, but I’m not sure I could write them as they require such detailed plotting. My strength, I believe, is writing family drama. I come from a big family and understand the dynamics of a group of people pushing and pulling against one another. I hear the conversations and arguments in my head, as I write them. It feels natural.

Consistency

The idea for the Sprite Sisters come to me in a sentence late one night: ‘Four sisters with magic powers, east, south, north, west – fire, water, earth air’. The stories developed as I wrote them, one by one. I didn’t make copious notes on filing cards, as I didn’t feel I had time to stop. Inevitably, I forgot some of the character and location details I had written in earlier books. By the time I got to Book 4, The Ghost in the Tower, the editor and I were tracking back and forth to find what I’d said about this and that. What colour are Quinn’s eyes? Did the girls open the portal in the East or West Tower? If the map is the secret of Sprite Towers, then what is the Crossed Circle? You need to know: readers spot inconsistencies.

Multiple points of view

How do you manage them? You listen. I believe it’s about balance. In my case, I have a good ear. I seem to know which character needs to speak and what they say. My four Sprite Sisters each need a share of the ‘voice’. Inevitably the eldest girl, Flame gets most of it, but I move the story along through the different voices. Each sister has to be a part of the overall voice of the story.

Style

There’s a marked difference between the writing in Book 1, The Circle of Power, and Book 6, The Boy With Hawk-like Eyes. My style has evolved and, I think, improved. It’s leaner, cleaner. There are bits of writing in the first books that now make me wince. Why did I feel the need to describe Ariel’s fluffy blonde hair so many times?

Rhythm and clarity

Stories need rhythm; words need rhythm. If your sentences have cadence and precision, people will enjoy your writing and stay with your series. Similarly, if your plots are clear, you’ll keep your reader with you.

Heed your editor

Over the course of the series, I came to really value my editor’s skill. She stood back: I couldn’t. She helped to shape the structure of each story, ensured it was logical and clear, kept the pace going and smoothed out any repetition, quite apart from correcting the typos. In the case of Sprites, each book had to work as a standalone novel and as one of a series – and that needed my editor’s eagle eyes. Editing is skill in its own right. If you’re self-publishing a series, don’t stint on professional editing: false economy, especially on the first title.

Clarity

You might know where you characters are and what they are doing but your reader won’t, necessarily. The plot, the location and any jumps in time need to be clear in your mind or your reader will get confused. I got muddled writing Book 4 and so did my editor. Bit of rethink and rewrite there. In a series each story has to tie in with the one you have written before – and the one you wrote before that.

Don’t be precious

I began as freelance journalist, learning on the hoof, so I’m used to having my work edited and chopped about. Instead of feeling my babies were being murdered, I stood back and used the newspaper and magazine editing process as a way to learn to write clear prose and shape features. It’s a useful experience to remember when your book editor disagrees with you – though I think the author is entitled to the odd fit.

Stick to your guns – but choose your battle

Mrs Duggery appeared to me in a flash. I saw the tiny old lady standing in front of me in her lilac knitted hat and her big brown boots. I saw her name flash in neon lights – ‘Mrs Duggery’. I knew she was meant to be part of the Sprite Sister books. The publisher disagreed. We didn’t need any more characters, they said. I had a battle to get Mrs Duggery into Book 2. Thankfully I won, and sure enough the magical old Sprite became one of the best characters in the series.

The pressure changes

In a way, writing a series becomes easier as you know your characters and the scope of their world. On the other hand, there’s pressure to find another new adventure.

The incentive to find that adventure is helped when you think it’s likely you still have readers out there waiting to know what comes next.

The value of re-reading

As soon as I finished writing the first five Sprite titles – in six weeks apiece – my mind washed clear of the stories. By the time the editor came back to me on the first (broad) edit, I’d completely forgotten what I’d written. I got back into the story for a few weeks, then forgot it again once the editing was completed. Recently, I re-edited Sprites for my new e-book and print-on-demand editions. It gave me the opportunity to re–connect with Flame, Marina, Ash and Ariel and their adventures, and provided a stepping-stone to the next story. It allowed me to remember the details: when a child asks a tricky question at an author talk now, I’ll be ready.

Be in charge

Don’t give away all your rights. Have a plan. Writing is the way I earn my bread and butter. Thanks to Fischer Verlag’s success with the Sprite Sisters, I can keep going. I kept the e-book, television and film rights, but recently bought back the book rights to titles 1-5.  I was able to sell Sprites 6 to Fischer Verlag, direct. I’ve approached a Japanese agency and a film agent. However, none of this would have happened if Piccadilly Press hadn’t made a leap of faith in the first place. 

The power of the title

Your story titles have to work separately, but also as a whole. Your series title is your brand. Don’t groan in creative dismay, for a brand is what you are selling – and the title will be a big part of its success.

Find a strapline

If only I had found it at the beginning! ‘The Sprite Sisters – four sisters, four elements, four powers.’ It’s the ‘elevator pitch’ that sums up the series in a sentence. It came to me recently – five years after I started Sprites. It’s on the jackets of the new print-on-demand paperbacks and the e-books – I put it everywhere I can.

Sheridan Winn is author of the Sprite Sisters series, which has sold over 200,000 copies in Germany.

http://www.sheridanwinn.com

CHRISTY'S PROJECT AND THE MAGIC OF READERS' LETTERS

 

There's nothing that gladdens this author's heart as much as an enthusiastic letter from one of my readers.

Authors of adult books may keep their readers for years. Genre writers, 

I suspect, keep loyal readers for decades. But as a children’s author, you capture your reader’s attention for a few years, if you’re lucky. There’s a 

small window in which your books may be cherished, then your readers are gone, grown and after new stories. But if a child likes your stories, they really like them and your characters become their world.

Chris Winn's jacket design for the new e-book

My Sprite Sister stories are aimed at girl readers aged 7-11 years. Marketing with social media is difficult with this age group. My readers are too young to tweet or use Facebook, but they write to me on my website (and I ask them to get their parents’ permission). Mostly they write once or twice, often asking for information for their book project. Sometimes they write to me, on and off, over a period of several years. Always I reply, and thank them. A connection is made, a question answered, an autograph sent.

I have received letters in German, French, Italian, and one in Japanese. Among others, there’s Ellie in Northampton, Daisy in Brighton, Sabina in Switzerland, Hi in New Zealand, Afra in India, Chioma in Nigeria, Meera in Saudi Arabia and Sharon in Myanmar.

With 200,000 Sprite Sister books sold in Germany, a high proportion of my readers’ letters are from there. Here’s a typical one:-

Dear Sheridan,
my english isn't very good, too (So I hope you can understand me). I've got a question: Are you going to film a movie about the Sprite Sisters?
That would be great! I love the sprite sisters!
And I'm waiting longingly for the 7th book.
bye Sophia
PS When you need an actor for the movie, ask me and I'm instantly there!

Recently, Christy Cheung wrote to me from Hong Kong. She was doing a book launch project in her English class at the Discovery College, and had chosen The Circle of Power, the first of the Sprite Sisters books. Christy wrote a polite letter asking a number of questions for the author biography. I replied with the information and said I would be pleased to see photographs of her Sprite Sisters merchandising idea.

I was delighted with Christy's imaginative and ingenious solution and thought that I would share it with you (with her parents' permission).

Christy's Sprite Sister merchandising object

To explain the concept of the books, the Sprite Sisters each have a magic power that relates to one of the four elements and the four directions. Flame, the eldest, has the power of the East and Fire. Marina has the power of the South and Water. Ash’s power is Earth and she stands at the West. Little Ariel has the power of Air and stands at the North. When the sisters work together, their power is balanced and strong. However they are not  always balanced and their enemy is very determined – so many adventures ensure.

Here is Christy’s introduction to her merchandising item:-

‘This is a scene from the first spectacular book of the Sprite Sisters – The Circle of Power. With all the sister's powers balanced, I thought that this scene represents the spirit of the sisters the best, all hearts united to fight for one thing together. All the sisters concentrating on their music along with the united powers, it's the best thing you could do and this leads you on to their first adventure and success in the Sprite Sisters series.’

The complete object

The green knob shows the four elements

Another view of Christy's merchandising object

Terrific, isn't it!

And, as I work through the Sprite Sister titles, another hits the digital shelves: The Magic Unfolds. This is now available as an e-book and print-on-demand paperback, with another of Chris Winn's wonderful jacket designs.

My latest e-book and print on demand paperback

Sheridan Winn is the author of the six Sprite Sister books: 

The Circle of Power, The Magic Unfolds, The Secret of the Towers, 

The Ghost in the Tower, New Magic and The Boy With Hawk-like Eyes.

You can contact her through her website: http://www.sheridanwinn.com