Science innit

Here is our pyramid made from poker chips. We did not expect it to support its own weight let alone a load of mah jong tiles!

it'll never work - surely?

layer.. I've lost count already

completely hollow

tense

almost there...

the keystone

ta-dah!

eh?

how is this possible?

careful

it sure can hold a lot of weight

there's no more chips!

this time with something heavier

just one more...

skidooosh

caves

the end

Book launch!

At last I bring news of a book launch (phew!) - 

I'm having a launch party for my children's silent picture book...

Build Me A Boat, Daddy

5.30pm, Thurs 29th Nov at Loanhead Library - there will be refreshments courtesy of the library and entertainment from some special guests. Please feel free to bring friends too!

And there's more...

For any of you with creative kiddies, I'm doing a workshop - at 4.30pm - same day, same place - as part of Scottish Book Week - we'll be drawing and making up stories and generally having a fun time - so we'd love to see lots of people there too!

Build Me a Boat Daddy is a silent graphic novel which means the story is told through pictures alone - you can take a wee look on my graphic novel page.

Thursday Night's Writers' Night - Alright!

After a mega workshopping weekend in Dumfries & Galloway as part of Rediscover Literacy event (see last post) I can now relax for five minutes before telling you about - drum roll please... Penicuik Arts Festival where Penicuik Writers' group are having an evening of reading and music! Come along to hear all our new work and even have the chance to buy our new books! Thursday 13th Sept - 7-9pm Penicuik Arts Centre, Penicuik.

Here's our poster by the fabulous poet and artist, Karen Duncan - do come along, we'd love to see you x x x

Rediscover Literacy Weekend

I'm very excited as I am taking part the Redicover Literacy  (8th & 9th September) event in Dumfries and Galloway this year with wonderful poet Liz Niven. Rediscover is a celebration of listening, talking, reading, drawing and writing - with workshops, talks, story telling and lots more throughout the weekend at various locations - and even better - it's free! Liz and I will also be taking part in a blog for the next fortnight where we hope to join forces with children to make a big blog page full of creativity.

We are hosting a workshop on 8th September at Douglas Ewart library where we will talk about our online residency and how we've been inspired by the children of Dumfries and Galloway's work.

School children across the region are invited to submit their pictures and writing to the official blog each day for the next two weeks - Liz will chose a picture to write a poem for and I will chose a piece of writing to illustrate. We hope to see lots of creativity and imagination from everyone taking part.

We will also be bringing along our new booklet 'Watchin Oot Fir Aliens' which we hope will inspire you to take part and fill in the blanks with work of your own.

So we are going to be ver busy indeed! To follow our residency and see some of the work please click here.

Why not come along to one of the many events going on this weekend - come and Rediscover Literacy!
Click here for the full programme.

Book fest aye

I've not had too much Edinburgh Book Festival action this year - unless you count 22 minutes wandering about while keeping half an eye on the the children bribed into submission with ice cream - hoping they will just sit nicely and finish then off without coming looking for you in the bookshop smearing melting chocolate over everyting...
So, when the school asked for mummy helpers to take the P3 class to see Julia Donaldson - I jumped at the chance! My kids love her books and seeing her live performance was just fab. We were nestled among about 12 other schools - the place was packed! Julia and her team kept beautiful order and the bairns sang along...
My favourite part by far, was the performance of The Gruffalo in Scots - just FANTASTIC! So, if you haven't read it or heard it - especially if you love bonny Scotland - give it a go, g'an yersel!


Here's the piccies from my 22 mins of luxury... can you spot my book? ;)

All The New Bits

Well, it's been a while, but I'm back for the chat. I've been beavering away on many new projects and have just sent my silent graphic novel off to the yes and no guys. Let's hope they're yes guys this time!
Anyhoo, I wanted to share a couple of my favourite pictures with you from this new story about a little rabbit who just wants to build a boat with his too busy dad.
Silent graphic novels are those with no text at all just relying on the pictures to carry the story - think Raymond Brigg's The Snowman or The Arrival by Shaun Tan.
I loved writing this little book - it was inspired by seeing little bunnies playing on the sand near a river in Suffolk where we go every summer - and also the fear of getting what we want and some little worries my youngest son had about growing up and facing his own mortality.
I always do the line drawings with Indian ink and one of my home made feather quills - the favourite of the moment is that of a Screech Owl we found in the woods in the summer holidays - it's the perfect width, weight and scratchiness.
I hope that one day I'll be able to point you towards a place where you can read the whole thing - but in the meantime, here's some piccies...
Thanks for taking a look,

Hard work and good reviews!

I am excited to share this amazing review of The Device, The Devil & Me from Carol Norris at the Eildon Tree - the Writing Magazine from the Scottish Borders. You can pick up copies for free at libraries or Please click here to download the full Autumn issue.

It is an exciting time for me and The Device, The Devil & Me as it is currently being prepared for re-release in e-book format - hooray! I am also working on a book trailer to accompany it.

I am just going to let you read the whole review - so chuffed I am by it - thank you Carol. The Eildon Tree is a fab magazine with a beautiful cover, I wanted to share it with you but you'll just have to download it x x


THE DEVICE, THE DEVIL & ME

Stephanie Taylor
Linen Press Edinburgh
Prose
2009.
PBK
220 pages
£10
IBSN 978-0-95596-184-7


This is a spellbinding book. A
brilliant book, written with superbly
accomplished skill and expressiveness,
it is completely believable and
authentic.
It has heart, love and clarity, laced in
and through, interlocked with dark
apposite humour flashing out at just
the right times like a harmonious
symphony. There is not a wrong or
discordant note throughout. Comic
writing, which is passionate, truthful
and spot on accurate.
The close focus on detailed observation
of human emotion and behaviour is
stunning in its insight as is the use of
metaphor in description.
The form and structure of the book
is dramatic, with the progressive
revelation of the past traumatic
formative events in the protagonist’s
childhood as the novel progresses
in its gripping narrative.
The emotions generated as a loved
one dies are conveyed with the utmost
insight and sensitivity. Rendering the
experience of bereavement, from her
descriptions of Pete the Goldfish, a
London Shubunkin, to a family, the
author carries the reader on a roller
coaster ride in which we are completely
and powerfully engaged.
The emotional charge of an expectant
mother and the intense heightening
of emotion in the events surrounding
the birth of a child are graphically
portrayed.
So also made vivid is the mental
turmoil suffered by the novel’s narrator
from late childhood through to mid
twenties which takes the form of
extreme mood changes like a bipolar
disorder. These rapid, frequently
instantaneous, swings of mood cause
the abrupt onset of rages and outbursts
of anger relieved by episodes of self
harm, a bulimia like condition and
a recurrent nightmare which itself
develops its own horrific narrative.
Inevitably this all leads to very low self
esteem.
The personalisation of all these
horrors as “The Devil” of the title
is used as an extremely clever and
effective “Device” and image,
enacting the role of an ever-present
antagonist throughout the novel, a
“Doppelganger”.
Recovery comes to the protagonist in
stages; firstly, by self honesty, being
brave enough to admit to herself and,
after various false starts, another
human being, the nature of what she
has so far been concealing; starting
psychological therapy, and finally
ending with healing from a most
unlikely source.
This is an uplifting book and is for
everyone, but especially for those with
grave emotional difficulties, those
addicted to alcohol and substances, and
those with bitterness in their souls.
All Psychiatrists, Psychologists, General
Practitioners, Bereavement Councillors,
Alternative Therapists, and indeed
all professional Health and Mental
Healthcare workers and Medical &
Nursing Students also should read it.
By Carol Norris.

Book 4 Book event - cancelled, sorry foks

I'm leaving up the post as it shows off the GWL and LP but THIS EVENT IS CANCELLED...

Well, after having my head down in the new work, I now have to peek out and tell you all about the Book 4 Book that I'll be reading at in Glasgow on the 10th. It should be a lovely event and I would love to see you there. Come along for a chat and read - bring along your favourite book by a woman and share the best bits! x x

Me at Waterstones!

Well, lookee here, I spoke to the lovely Roanna and now I have a picture of me and my book at Waterstones in Princes Street. Yay! I love the fire n brimstone going on...

The Device, The Devil and Me is filed under T for Taylor in the fiction section! Thanks for looking x x

A (very) Short Story

Wet

As I stood on the third bottom step watching water seep and rise into my living room, you would think that I would be angry or shocked or upset but I wasn’t.

You see, this morning, I had thought it was exciting.

I was enchanted to see the gentle current lift the skirts of the sofa and lap up the walls. It reminded me of my favourite game as a little girl. My sister and I would imagine that our house was half underwater and our living room was one big swimming pool. We would float around on cushions to get from one chair to the other and have to dive under the surface to watch telly. I had invested so much imagination into this mermaid fantasy that I would wish and wish it was true.

And now, over twenty-five years later, it is.

The water has risen a lot since this morning. As I tentatively dip my toe in, now foot, now leg, now waist; reality begins to dawn. I realise what I hadn’t expected all those years ago.

I hadn’t expected the water to actually be, you know, wet.

Did you see it?

We had the most amazing sky the other night.
And reluctant as I am about embracing autumn already, it is the time of skies like this one.

Ahhh, who wouldn't want to fly on a night like this?

Hello again world

So the 'summer' holidays are over and writing can begin in earnest...

Ideas and projects are brimming and hopefully ready to roll.

I'll keep you posted - have a look at my new pages x

A Poem About Running

It starts with a pounding

pounding

pounding.

Head down,

eyes dizzily scan tarmac spinning past worn out grey trainers.

I’ll never do it.

Pounding

pounding

pounding.

I’ll never do it.

Breath deepens,

legs heavy.

Pounding.

Gaze shifts higher,

I can only see road after road after road.

Pounding.

No horizon,

just road.

Just pounding.

I’ll never do it.

Stop now?

Or run – just a little.

Legs stretch out – just a little.

Breathing intensifies.

Gathering speed, my eyes catch green.

To the side there is green;

green trees, green bushes, green fields.

But ahead is road.

Pounding

pounding

pounding.

I look up further.

Horizon.

Shall I stop now? Can I?

I slow...

Blood surges in my veins and the pounding sprains from the road to my heart, to my brain.

If I can make it to the next lamp post...

Pounding.

I pass the lamp post –just get to the next,

now the next now

the next and another.

Momentum

momentum

momentum.

My eyes catch blue.

Blue between branches, blue up ahead.

I lift my brow, just a little,

I see sky.

Just above the horizon.

I might make it to that tree.

My weight shifts from calf to toe,

I feel springy -

just a little.

I feel air pass my face more quickly,

more evenly.

I feel speed.

Arms pump, legs pump, heart pumps.

I am sprinting.

My eyes catch light.

I lift my face to the sun.

I am running!

I might just make it to the finish line.

Three Poems that made me cry today

Sister

by Mary Johnson

Fa Dis She Think She Is?

Calderwood Press

The Tulchan

by David C Purdie

The Biggers

Calderwood Press

Thin

by Colin Will

The Floorshow at the Mad Yak Cafe

Red Squirrel Press

Here come the Girls!

The lovely Dronkerts got me two chickens! Welcome Gloria and the intrepid Exploratory Dorris! Dorris laid her first egg today - it was a bit of an odd wrinkly shape but I am advised that this is normal - especially on her first day in her new home!

Dorito Joe in the City - Steph Taylor

My Doritos Ad

Doritos and the Wolf

x

After two weeks of waiting for good weather and set building, I've finally made an entry for the Doritos Ad Competition! With help from Sonny and Cohen in the prop and puppetry department, music performed by Bridget, and love from the ever patient Jules, I'm very pleased with the result! Let me know what you think x

Half term ramblings

So, I'm lucky enough to be going on the ScreenLab course held by the Scottish Booktrust at the end of February. I have just finished reading the introductory podcasts by the course tutor Adrian Mead and one of them suggests that to make it as a writer you must write!!! So, one of the tips is to just take five minutes everyday to write uncensored.

Well, my friends, this is the result of my ramblings - a blog to you! I am going to be dedicated and write one every day for a week (This is called the setting of a short-term goal). Now, I have thrown down my gauntlet to myself as all you parents will know, it is half term and the bairns are-a-squawkin'!

Everyone around me seems to be getting puppies and my children want one too... I saw a lovely old boy in the Cat and Dog home called Louie. He was described as being very happy and excited on walks but loved most of all to be couried up in his bed. Sounds perfect!

I also keep seeing the same advert for Chihauha puppies I told y'all about on previous blog. Maybe I'll just carry my guinea-pigs around in my handbag for now.

I'm going to leave you now. Have a lovely day and I'll see you tomorrow x x

Banking Bins

Hello friends! It's another rant I'm afraid!

While doing my daily ablutions and sorting the mail into 'bin' or 'oh, goody, a proper letter from a real person' piles, I came across the seemingly weekly letter from my bank. I don't need to say which pile that went into but before it did, I made sure of pulling out the little plasticky window from the envelope (for recycling purposes).

And so I went about my business. It wasn't until my husband came home a few days later with a horrible rumour about what might have been inside the bank letter that I thought I should maybe check it.

Friends, we have a 'holding' bin. That is where all the waste from the office space waits until the night before the recycling. So I reached in and shook off the cornflakes from a slightly dampened official letter. And read.

My bank has very kindly done the following to make my life easier.

Instead of those pesky monthly calculations of paying me interest on any money in my account or charging me interest on my overdraft, they have decided to ditch all that in favour of a more simple solution.

They will charge £1 a day for each day I am in overdraft up to £1200, £2 a day from £1200-£2500 and so on. And if I slip up and go over my overdraft, I will be charged £5 per day. Ooops, did I say 'charge'? I meant these are the new 'fees'.

So there you have it. I thought I'd better put this out there just in case any of my readers are of the 'holding bin' persuasion.

Happy banking!

I'm away to eat some cakes. x x x

Non-Formal Learning, is it of value?

Last night, I was lucky enough to be invited along to a round table discussion on Community Learning & Development with reps from within the sector and MSPS, John Park and Margaret Curran.

Mary Blair from Midlothian's CLD asked me along as someone who has used the scheme to give my view.

Of course the main reason for the discussion was the worry about budget cuts and how this would impact the non-formal adult learning. By non-formal we are talking about non-qualification or non-skills based education. So I felt I really must share my experience and how important I believe this scheme to be.

When I moved to the wee town I now live in, I felt quite isolated. I had a baby - too small for nursery, and post natal depression. A combination which perhaps niether endeared me to the community nor it to me! However, through my health visitor pushing me, I made it along to a PND group. It was a lifeline to me. For two hours a week I got to chat to women with similar stories while my precious baby was safely looked after in a creche. As a follow on, I was introduced to an alternative therapy course at the community centre. Again, for no fee, and a creche, I could spend time in a group learning about massage and relaxation. At the time, this was a free resource and the benefits to me were far more than learning to identify the difference between lavender and bergamot (though, I must say, that was lovely!). I met and made friends with local people which in turn made me feel more confident and that I had, and deserved, a place within my community.

I then went on to a confidence building class facilitated by Mary Blair and Ali Burrel. Again, the bonding with fellow learners and the childcare provided all helped me to keep believing in myself and find the positivity and confidence that had eroded from me through the mental health and isolation issues.

I cannot praise Community Based Non-Formal Adult Education enough! I am now a published author, hosting and facilitating groups of my own in creative writing. www.ScottishAuthor.co.uk

It is likely, that with budget cuts, programmes like these will be the first to go - they can not be measured in economic success or job creation. However, I believe the long-term positive outcomes are far reaching and benefit the community at the most basic level - the individual. After all, surely that's where community building begins.

Thanks for reading! Please pass on if you think this is important! x x