Welcome to the round robin blog hop for November! Skye set us an interesting brief... to interview another writer.
After considerable thought, I chose to interview Debra Williams, who writes under the name of Debra Clewer.
I've known Debra online for some years, and, since her move to Tasmania, we've occasionally had a get-together in real time. I chose her as my subject because she is interesting, enthusiastic and is a puppet-maker as well as a writer.
I asked five questions--and I hope you'll enjoy Debra's responses as much as I did.
1. How did you become a
writer?
My writing
journey began in country NSW in 2015. Assisting in classrooms, I noticed how
many children struggled with their reading and comprehension. My goal became to
create stories to engage children’s imaginations with stories that they would
like to read. When I was employed at a local school in the country NSW town
where we lived, I tried out my stories on the target age group, and had a great
response. One teacher allowed me to read a chapter to a Grade 5/6 class, and
they all wanted the second chapter as well! In the other primary
school where I was doing some volunteer work, I had the same reaction.
I
self-published my first Middle-Grade novel, Harriet and the Secret Rings,
in 2017. Two more books followed as a series in 2018 & 2019: Harriet and
the Secret Librarian (Book 2) and Harriet and the Secret Coins (Book 3). Recently, I have re-released the first book,
now titled Harriet and Will: The Secret Rings, where two 11-year-old
friends time-slip to three historical locations whilst working on a school
project. The stories are historically based, with added fantasy elements. The
third book in the original series, based on the Australian gold rush, is now
being rewritten as the second book in the series, hopefully to be rereleased next
year.
Three
years ago, via the means of Assisted Independent Publishing, I released a chapter book for 8-11-year-old
readers. Ah-Fur, Super Sleuth: The Case of the Missing Moggies,
features an Australian Persian cat detective who is on the trail of a criminal
rat called Ratho. His chase takes him and his driver cousin, Show-Fur, to
London, where Ratho has kidnapped the prime minister’s two best ratters and
mousers. His evil plan is to rid the city of all cats. The story has the feel
of a James Bond/Inspector Gadget type of adventure and is a lot of fun, with
themes of teamwork and good triumphing over evil.
I’ve now had several short
stories for both children and adults published in online publications and on
the UK-based Reedsy website. In 2021, 2023 & 2024, I was shortlisted in the
Just Write For Kids Pitch It! competition. Last month, I received a
Highly Commended award from the Society of Women Writers Tasmania for a quirky,
short adult story I entered in a competition. I have three Junior Fiction
stories looking for homes, and am working on a new Middle-Grade story or two.
Earlier this year, I wrote my first Picture Book rhyming story, and yes, that
one is looking for a home as well!
Many of my
children’s stories are written under my previous name of Debra Clewer, as a
dedication to my late husband, John (2016) and our late daughter, Rebekah
(2023).
2. What inspired the Harriet
stories?
A lifelong love of both history
and adventure. As I was digging in my vegetable patch one day in 2016, I
unearthed an old knife and a broken tile. Those items set me thinking about
ancient Rome and Greece. I decided to create a Middle-Grade time-slip/fantasy
story, where two Year 5 friends travel back to those places via the means of
three pictures of old rings which come to life from the pages of an old library
book. That book was released as Harriet and the Secret Rings. In Rome,
they redeem a young slave girl and restore her to her family. In Greece, they
end up in prison, and after an earthquake, they help a young boy find his way
home. I decided to add in a third adventure, being in Medieval Sherwood Forest
with none other than Robin Hood and his merry gang. One of Will’s heroes is
Robin Hood, and Harriet’s is Maid Marion. They engage with the Merry Men and
Maid Marion to teach the villainous Sheriff of Nottingham a lesson about his
oppressive treatment of the peasants, giving him a lesson in humility.
Thorough research into those
three ancient locations provided me with a lot of information about everyday
life and everyday possessions in each time period. Most of my young readers
tell me their favourite section is the one with Robin Hood and company.
I also undertook a lot of
research for The Secret Coins, where my husband and I visited two
goldrush locations & museums in NSW and a still-functioning gold mine in
Bendigo twice. That mine has a fabulous legend behind its name, which nobody
had laid claim to, so I was able to use it. My current rewrite is changing the
name of the mine and the people in the legend to add a fresh take on the story.
3. Ah-Fur is a wonderfully
adventurous cat character. Is his appearance or personality based on a real
cat?
He isn’t based on a real cat per
se (although I’ve had several over the years), but kind of a combination of
different cat personalities. I have a friend, Margaret, who previously had 5
cats, and they helped with the inspiration for his detective cat character.
He’s a serious feline, and I decided to make him a Persian cat, due to the
serious-looking faces they have! However, his colleague Marvin is based on one
of Margaret’s cats (and his name was really Marvin). He was a Maine
Coone/Norwegian forest cat mix. When it was time for him to leave this world, I
wrote him in as a dedication to my friend, as he had been her companion for 21
years.
4. How have you combined
puppetry with your writing work?
Way back
in 1991, I wanted a way to make stories come alive in the classroom and at
church. Having been involved in puppetry since I was 10, I decided to create my
own characters to present various stories, and I still do. They have been a
wonderful boost, both to me and others. In 1999, my late husband, John Clewer,
and I started our first website, making puppets to order. I bring other
authors’ book characters to life, and am currently working on a 2-character
order for a picture book recently released in the U.S, where one of the
characters is a talking delivery carton! I have made all sorts of orders, from
character collections as hand puppets for schools, to large individual
orders…and some have been quite a challenge! I have also run puppet-making
workshops for children and adults. It allows kids to be very creative and
encourages them to participate in their own storytelling.
In August
this year, I was the guest author at a local primary school for Book Week. I
used my Harriet puppet to co-present my content, and showed the children my
Ah-Fur character puppet (he was transformed from a teddy bear into a Persian
cat!), along with my very first puppet, Muttley, a dog puppet I created back in
1991. Combining animated characters with written stories engages the listeners
and extends their imaginations. I have future characters in mind for some works
yet to be published, and hope to combine video and puppetry to present them.
5. Of your stories, which is
the one that pleases you most?
I am still really pleased with my first Harriet novel, and a
close second is The Secret Coins. They are combinations of fact
and imagination, historical fiction with fantasy elements added. When I
released The Secret Coins in 2019, I said to my husband that I felt that
story was the one I had been aiming for, a combination of Dr Who meets Narnia
meets Roald Dahl! I’m looking forward to rereleasing it. One of the things I
have taken on board in recent years is the declining level of children’s
reading and literacy. I am halving the chapters (I did the same thing with this
year’s rerelease, after a couple of kids, including my own granddaughter, felt
the chapters were too long). The story essence is still there, but as a
reviewer said, the shorter chapters make it easier for young readers to achieve
1-2 chapters a day.
My goal is
to engage children’s and adults’ imaginations and encourage them with their writing,
reading ability and creativity. I can be found at:
https://www.clewerbooknook.com
https://www.facebook.com/DClewerauthor
https://www.facebook.com/clewer.puppets
Thanks, Debra and thanks Skye for such an interesting challenge!
I hope you'll check out my fellow blog-hoppers at the links below.
Skye Taylor
"Australian Persian cat detective who is on the trail of a criminal rat called Ratho." Love it!
ReplyDeleteAt the moment I have mice in my house who are either geniuses or mind readers. They happily eat anything I put out for them -- except poison bait, or if it is in a trap. I sort of like living with them, if only they could improve their toilet habits.
Keep up the good work, Debra.
That's the thing about mice... engaging in their way
DeleteLoved this interview, Sally and Debra. I've heard that since covid children are reading even less now, and I love how your experience in the classroom inspired you to write stories that would engage them. And I really love the idea of bringing the characters to life as puppets! I wish I lived near enough to see them in action. Greetings from a cold northern England, and thanks for the great interview!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Helena; I've known Debra for some years and I still learned things.
DeleteI have a Little Free Library out on my fence post and have discovered that kids love the idea of finding books there. All the books I had for kids have been taken home now and I hope enjoyed so I'm on the hunt for replacements. The other day while poking through used children's books at a second hand shop, I found one about a throw away teddy bear that totally engaged even me at my age and I wondered if I could write a children's book. Debra has given me cause to consider that question again. Thank you for a lovely interview.
ReplyDeleteIt is sometimes said that a good children's book can be enjoyed by adults as well. The big thing about writing for children is level- you need to see your main character/ POV character from the same level. You're not writing about a "little girl". You're writing about Sophie, or Indiana or Bex, who happens to 6 or 9 or 11. Your emotional eye level should be about the same as your character's.
Delete