Elizabeth Hopkinson's Hidden Grove

I'm writing this little blog in response to a blog by Book Riot.  http://bookriot.com/?p=109205 You know the sort of thing: if you could go back in time and hand some books to your 12-year-old self...?  So, without further ado, here's my list (in no particular order): 1.  Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne I was about 18 when I first read it, and knew I would have loved it earlier. 2. The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien My young self actually thought this was a rival to Narnia, and had no idea Lewis and Tolkien were friends. 3. The Christmas Mystery by Jostein Gaarder The book that turned me back to contemporary fiction, after about a decade hiding in the 19th century in case Angela Carter jumped out at me again. 4. Overcoming Low Self-Esteem by Melanie Fennel Enough said. 5. The Dalemark Quartet by Diana Wynne Jones How did I miss her at time of writing?? 6. The Lais of Marie de France So I wouldn't have to wait until uni to know I didn't need to give up fairy...

As part of my research for my ongoing work-in-progress, the Angelio  series, I have been reading Charles Burney's Life and Writings of Metastasio (1796).  Metastasio was a poet, a writer of librettos for opera during the 18th century, who spent much of his career at the Hapsburg court of Vienna.  He was also a lifelong friend of the castrato Farinelli (Carlo Broschi) to whom he wrote many letters. I couldn't help bring caught up short, though, by a couple of letters to a Signora Giacinta Betti Onofri, who was acquainted with Farinelli in Bologna.  According to Burney, "this lady...was a poetess, a musician, and an electrician." (Vol. 3, p. 57) An electrician!  I couldn't help picturing a lady in towering 18th-century headdress and blue overalls, knocking on the door and saying she'd come to fix the wiring!   Of course, what Dr Burney meant was something even more intriguing.  On p.60, he goes on to call her: "a smatterer in natural philosophy and elect...

Forget Super Saturday or Super Sunday.  I've just got back from Super Swanwick, the annual Writers' School in the heart of Derbyshire, where I return year after year to meet old friends and new, learn new things, share tips and enjoy Britain's craziest live entertainment.  My highlights for this year were... 1. Running into Ingrid from the National Gallery/Liars' League prize, and subsequently running a pop-up film showing of both our stories being performed at the National Gallery. 2. Steve Hartley's 4-part course on the Psychology of Characters.  If you have to ask what "knicker net.com" might be, you clearly weren't there! 3. The fancy dress disco, for which I dressed as Jasper Fforde's literary detective, Thursday Next.  Yes, that's THURSDAY NEXT I'm dressed as.  Surprised how many people hadn't a clue, when there were at least three Thursday Next novels lying around the conference centre.  True fans we will pleased to know that I t...

Last Friday (22nd July) I had the most amazing time at the National Gallery in London.  I was one of five winners of a competition run by the Gallery and Liars' League London for new short stories inspired by a painting in the National Gallery.  I chose The Family of Darius Before Alexander by Paolo Veronese , which you can see behind me in the photo.  I was so excited to find the real painting in the Gallery; I was practically dancing about in front of it! Picture courtesy of Liars' League Related Post: Ladies, Gentlemen and a League of Liars The event was part of the National Gallery's Inspiration Late event.  There were loads of different activities going on in different rooms, and our storytelling event was in Room 61.  As you can see from the photos, each story was read by an actor, next to a print of the painting that inspired it.  It was fascinating to hear all the stories, and to discover the different ways in which the authors had...

I would like to thank the wonderful people at Waterstones, Bradford Wool Exchange for a brilliant prize that I won a few weeks ago - free lunch and a copy of The Girl of Ink and Stars by Kiran Millwood Hargrave.  You can see the lunch here, right before I ate it! I've now finished reading the book, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  It's one of those books that is a physical object of desire, before you even start reading the story.  It has maps!  (You've got to love a book with maps.)  Actually, the main protagonist, Isabella, is a cartographer's daughter - hence the ink and stars of the title - and maps play a big part in the story.  The book also has blue and yellow map-themed decoration on every page, and blue writing.  Perfect. The story itself is a children's/teenage fantasy, set on an island called Joya.  According to myth, it used to be a floating island, but is now divided and ruled by a cruel governor.  However, when Isabella's friend goe...

31st May is blog link-up day for fairy tale anthology  The Forgotten and the Fantastical II,  published by Mothers' Milk Books.   For the link-up, I'd like to share with you this video from the Royal Ballet, about reviving the 1946 production of  Sleeping Beauty. My contribution to the anthology, a re-imagining of  Sleeping Beauty  called   Rêve/Revival,  was partly inspired by footage of an old Royal Ballet production of  Sleeping Beauty , starring Margot Fonteyn. The version I watched was recorded especially for TV in 1955, but the live theatre version was staged in 1946, to re-open the Royal Opera House after the Second World War. I didn't know about the 1946 version when I wrote  Rêve/Revival , so it's fascinating to discover more connections between  Sleeping Beauty , war and new beginnings.  In my story, both the Napoleonic and First World Wars change the map forever, while humans and fairies fin...

In my last blog, I talked about a book I read while I was ill ( The Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee). Well, as it happens, I read quite a lot of books while I was ill - there wasn't much else to do! One of them was the very influential I Am Malala, which led me to produce this re-write of Cinderella, highlighting the difficulty of education for girls in many parts of the world. Please watch and share!  And if you want to know more about the work of the Malala Fund, and how you can help make a difference, visit them at malala.org.