Sunday, August 14, 2016

YALC 2016 - Day 1

I told you it would take me a while to get these blogs out. Now I'm not exactly late to the party. I attended the party, I was just late to debrief. So, YALC 2016. What a weekend. Exhausted doesn't cover it, but overwhelmingly inspired just about lays credit to the multitude of events, panels, workshops, talks, stalls, shops and wondrous authors that culminated in possibly the best YALC yet.

Now, to the copious amount of panels and events I attended, there are subsequent copious amounts of notes and condensing them will be a big task for me, but here goes, starting with Day 1 Friday 29th July. Sadly I couldn't make the morning sessions but I made it to the Olympia in plenty of time to see Patrick Ness in conversation with Lewis MacDougall and Sarah Shaffi. (Apologies in advance for the crap quality of the photographs, they were taken on Frank, my geriatric iPod touch.)

Event: Patrick Ness: A Monster Calls


 From Left to Right: Sarah Shaffi, Patrick Ness and Lewis Mac Dougall. 



In this conversation around A Monster Calls, both the author and screenwriter, and the film's main protagonist, took us through the challenges they faced at taking that book from page to screen, and also the responsibility they felt to be true to the book whilst making a stand-alone visual story.

Patrick admitted that when he was originally approached with the project, he wanted to say no. He didn't want it to become a homage to Siobhan Dowd, whose original idea it was and who sadly died before she could complete the book. He knew it had to come from him, as any story has to come from its author. But what persuaded him was a dream he had of a scene from the book and that's when he knew the story was in him and he could do it.

Patrick became the screenwriter after having held onto those film rights as long as he possibly could. He talked a lot about how proud he was of the finished result, and how, 'the whole book is there in spirit', with lots of visual effects and techniques added by the Director.

We then heard from Lewis on his journey from drama classes in Edinburgh, to an open cast call for last year's Pan and then several auditions for A Monster Calls, to work with huge names such as Sigourney Weaver and Felicity Jones. He admits he was very nervous and that he never intended to become an actor, but simply attended the classes with some friends and it went from there. He drew on experiences from his own life to infuse his character of Conor, who goes through intense bullying and has to deal with terrible loss with a huge emotional arc to his story.

Patrick and Lewis both took us through what it was like on set, Patrick writing scenes during shooting, and Lewis in motion capture outfits - 'ninja costumes' - whilst being played the booming voice of Liam Neeson's Monster. They spoke of the Director creating a real atmosphere on set, with music playing that heightened or reflected the mood of the scene. And perhaps my favourite quote of the interview was Patrick's awe at what they had created from his book:  'I made this crap up.'

Patrick had nothing but pride and admiration for the actor that brought Conor to life and remarked at how Lewis delivered day after day and really carried the whole film. They took us through their next steps, talking about Lewis' upcoming movie roles, and also Patrick's new book and Dr Who spin off series. It seems he has his fingers in many pies and that can only be a great thing. Books, Film and TV. Patrick Ness is taking over the world and I'm quite happy about that.

Questions were then thrown over to the audience and they were an interesting collection of specific questions about Patrick's books, the complexity of book to movie adaptations and the question of darkness in YA, which is always bandied about and usually squashed back down. Patrick remarked that in movie adaptations of books, 'the book remains', so nothing is taken away from that story even if you dislike the adaptation. 

What a fabulous start to my day at YALC and I'm sure we are all waiting impatiently for the film release on New Year's Day. It's always a pleasure to listen to Patrick Ness talk and I will be eagerly awaiting his next book. And watch out for Lewis, a great talent for the future. 

Fantasy London Panel
Ben Aaronovitch: Author of the River of London Series.
Samantha Shannon: Author of The Bone Season Series.
VE Schwab: Author of A Darker Shade of Magic Series.
Katherine Webber: Chair of the panel. 

This was one of my favourite panels, not only for the subject matter, but the personalities and the authors themselves. Ben Aaronovitch is a sarcastic, dark humoured hoot, and we definitely had a good giggle. VE Schwab and Samantha Shannon showed such enthusiasm and genuine love for their series, they all made it very firmly onto my, to read list. It was a really interesting grouping of authors, because the themes of their series are all very different but they have all set their series in one version or another of London, which led to the question: Why London?

For Ben and Shannon London was a natural starting point as they are both born and raised in London and know a lot about the city. For Victoria it was more of a historical standpoint, in that her country, the US, is much younger than the UK, and also her mother is from London so there are also familial ties. Ben's books are set in the present, with supernatural elements. Samantha's books are set in the past and future with clairvoyancy at the helm of her story, along with a corrupt government system. And Victoria explores several versions of London in a sort of alternate worlds feel, with magic and thievery as the driving force of her plot.


From left to right: Samantha, Ben, Victoria and Katherine.

The authors then talked us through their use of real, historical and imagined landmarks, and gave us some insight into their individual research methods. Victoria told us that all her versions of London contain the River Thames as a common thread, whilst Samantha spoke of a real mix of what used to exist with what actually exists now. Ben has a ninety percent rule, where ninety percent of it is completely real. He wants to know where his characters are eating, and he wants that restaurant to exist. He wants it to be as real as possible. In terms of research, Samantha likes to visit the cities she is writing about and she loves to just walk around London and experience it first-hand. Victoria crossed the pond to tread every step her main character steps, in order to make it real. Would it be possible to walk from X to Y in so many minutes? And Ben takes a more laid back approach, using Internet tools, his own knowledge and the knowledge of his friends and acquaintances, mixed with research outings and photographs. 

All the authors have had serious interest from Film and TV, which is definitely exciting for the authors themselves and for the many fans of the series'. They also discussed fights in their books and the different ways they approached them. Victoria has been on hand-to-hand combat courses and likes to choreograph every move of the fight, whereas Ben's main character avoids fighting where possible and usually just hits people over the head with things. Samantha's main character can possess anyone so has little need to fight, but one of her main fight scenes did include about twenty people and again had to be carefully plotted out. They finished with talk of where their characters were going next, and the general consensus was, out of London. In the case of Samantha she is gradually taking her dystopia on a global scale. Watch this space. 

Questions were then thrown out to the audience, where we got to hear about their daily motivational struggles, and the need for diversity and responsibility in their writing. This was a great panel as I'm sure anyone in attendance would agree. And there are definitely a few books added to the already huge reading list. 

Event: Michael Grant in Conversation.
This was a hilarious event with the wonderful Irish brogue of David O'Callaghan asking the questions, and Michael Grant's razor sharp wit cutting the answers. 

The main focus of the conversation was around his newest series: Front Lines. This World War Two series, centres around three women soldiers and their efforts in the war. His decision to have a Supreme Court ruling where women would also be subject to the draft and African American troops were called up earlier, were the only changes he made to history. He wanted to stick close to the actual events of the war, but to explore gender and race, and shine a light on events in a different way. Being a huge fan of non-fiction, he was desperate to get all the facts correct and do the least damage to history, whilst honestly telling the story he wanted to tell. It's definitely another on the reading pile. Michael's research brought him to London, but has also taken him to France and Germany. He wanted to see the places where those historical battles took place. 

Then David led us through some more general questions around Michael's preference of music during writing, any quirks or weird habits, and whether or not he has a cabinet full of terrifying situations and superpowers just waiting to be used on his characters. Micheal admitted to not being able to listen to music whilst writing Front Lines, but that in the Gone Series and BZRK he would often listen to punk, especially when writing an action scene. He likes to write out of doors, for three hours a day and he likes to smoke a cigar. And in terms of violence, he wants to be authentic and show the consequences of that violence. He admits to not being a great planner, and that he mainly writes seat of the pants style. Interestingly, he also likes to have a visual representation for his characters, so he finds pictures of locations and people that fit his story. Whilst saying he doesn't plan, he did admit to keeping a series bible, whilst working on certain projects, detailing everything from class schedules and ferry schedules, to how many steps a blind character had to take to get around. 

Left to right: Michael Grant and David O'Callaghan

He was a great talker and so funny. This was another fabulous event and a chance to see a titan of the YA world up close and personal. Here are a few of my favourite quotes from the event:
On writing: 'I'm here to keep you up all night.'
On reading: 'Read for fun.' 'I read everything.' 'Read what you find interesting.'
                      'Of course, Stephen King. You can't not read Stephen King.'
YA, what is too much?: 'I don't think books hurt people.'
                                              'It's not my job to protect you. You protect yourselves.'

Questions from the audience shed further light on Front Lines as a series and also involved a discussion on diversity, where Michael basically said, if you're not using diverse characters and drawing on real life, then you are essentially diminishing your cast members and limiting your story. It should involve everyone, because life is made up of lots of interesting characters from every walk of life. 

Event: My Teen Diary
Hosted by Juno Dawson and Lisa Williamson, this was the final event of YALC Day 1, and if you weren't there, it would probably be difficult to convey just how funny it was, but I'll give it a whirl. We were treated to excerpts from nine authors' teen diaries, and it was, as you can probably imagine, hilarious. I will treat you to some of the best bits that I managed to scribble down. 

Lisa Williamson kicked us off, with her sixth form diary from 1997. She talked of singing the Power Rangers theme tune in her head during the Remembrance Day silence. She referred to Hanson's Mmm Bop and told of her mum cutting her fringe way too short. (I can relate to that one.)


Juno Dawson and Lisa Williamson

Then Natasha Farrant gave us a very different feel with her University diary from 1990 and the start of the Gulf War. IRA bombings, worry for her country and the countries at war, and evacuated tube stations, all played a part, but we were also let in on a secret code: very happy = I've had lots of sex. 

Next up Liz Flanagan gave us a taste of A-levels, in her diaries from age 16-19. She talked of exam stress, her Jane Eyre/Bronte obsession, and being stoned at Glastonbury. There was some big best friend love going around and even a bit of washing her knickers in the sink. 

Deirdre Sullivan gave us a couple of time frames, with an excerpt from her diary aged 13, and an excerpt from her diary aged 17. At 13 there were more Hanson references, swearing at cars, and posing for imaginary photographs. And her later diary showed her pissed off at the world, and the drama of a pregnant friend who wasn't sure who the father was.  

Nicole Berstein gave us a glimpse into 14 year old Nicole's life from 1998. She named her diary after her dead dog, Sophie. And she desperately wanted a gerbil. There was even a hefty pros and cons list. 

Honour Cargill was the youngest and possibly bravest author to step up to the diary challenge as she's only 18 now, so this was all very recent. Her excerpts started from aged 10 up to the present. She told us of a family ski trip described through some pretty dark metaphors and similes and admitted to partly transcribing some of her diary into the Russian alphabet in case her mum found it. 

Claire Hennessy's diary from her late teens, written in the early noughties was actually taken from an online journal where you could input current mood and an emoticon. Whilst reading it she exclaimed, 'Oh god, I haven't changed.' Can we ever think of an optician’s room in the same way ever again? Are optician rooms sexy? Apparently so. 

Jenny McLachlan took us on an inter-rail trip from when she was 18. They took lifts with strangers, had their photograph taken by the same strangers, ate spaghetti bolognese and drank three beers. 'Smashing.'

Harriet Reuter-Hapgood finished off the event with her musings from the year 2000, aged 18. There were descriptions of sofa closeness with a boy, who gave lots of sofa flirting. She was scared of eating in front of people, and she admitted to being a bit of a prude. 

Well done to all the authors who bore their teenage souls to the audience. It made me go back and read some of mine. Oh dear. Oh dear. 

So there we have it, the roundup of YALC Day 1, 2016. So many authors, so many books to read, so many worlds to explore, so many stories still to be told. A magical and often hilarious day, this year's YALC had a massive turn out of UK and international authors and a huge thanks to all of them for attending and imparting wisdom. I'm glad to say that after a few episodes of Netflix's Stranger Things, I finally understand Juno Dawson's cosplay. Very nicely done Juno. You made a great Eleven. And I will be back soon with Day 2 and 3 of YALC, if I can get my act together and stop binge watching Gilmore Girls. 

Thanks for reading and I hope I've inspired you to pick up a new book or try a new author. 


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