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LAURA: Hmm. We've got some questions about writing and illustrating books, but all we need is a writer and an illustrator. Ah! Marta! Alex! Perfect!Thank you so much for joining us. We've got some questions for you here.With a book that includes emphasised words in a text, how do you decide which are the important words to stand out?

ALEX: Well, um, this is the type of thing where we kind of do-, it's all a real team effort. So we have loads of book designers who, um, look really hard at the text and think about what are the type of things which, um, are words that can catch the audience's eye. Um, and they kind of help, er, put that all together.

MARTA: Yeah, it is, indeed. And also, you know, when- when I illustrate, and in a way they help bring the energy of that particular page. So, you know, you may have a word, I dunno, "boom", or some sort of, I dunno, "scary" or "toast" or whatever word that may be, and then you kinda indicate, OK, this is, um, you know, almost it becomes part of that illustration in a way, because it's, you know, typography.

LAURA: –Yeah, that's a good-, that's a good tip. OK, Marta, this one's for you. As an illustrator, how do you decide what you're going to draw in a book?

MARTA: Well, er, it's not entirely up to me, you see. So I actually together with- with a designer, we work together, er, and pick the right scenes that would be most needed, er, maybe most wanted in a story. So, er, I usually get a list from a designer, er, indicating, er, the moments that they would like me to, er, to illustrate. Maybe little suggestions of how they would want to see it, maybe the size as well, whether they want a full page, or maybe a little so-called spot, which is just a little element.And, you know, I look at that. I- I sort of think, oh, what are the good ones or the not. And usually I may have some of my own ideas, so then we have this dialogue and I suggest, oh, how about this? And then from that we have the proper solid list on to which I–

LAURA: –Yeah, a nice collaboration between you.

MARTA: Exactly. It's all a collaboration when you work on a book.

LAURA: Excellent. OK. OK, Alex, I've got one for you here. As a writer, how do you create a sense of suspense and mystery in an opening chapter? I mean, you know, you wanna keep the readers wanting to read more, right?

ALEX: Mm-hmm, yeah. The thing that I always think about is, um, for getting my main character, um, to think about what are the things that they want and to um-, and to kind of show them trying to get that. Um, when you have a main character and you have a thing that they want, you immediately have, I think, a little bit of tension, which I think can really add to the mystery, um, and to the suspense of a chapter.

LAURA: Mmm!

ALEX: You know.

LAURA: Yeah. Good answer.OK, Marta, I've got another one for you here. How do you think illustrations add to the experience for the reader?

MARTA: Oh my goodness. Er, they add massively, I think. 'Cause obviously the text is one thing but then the illustrations just basically expand, I think, the story. So, er, you illustrate what is in a story but also maybe what isn't, to a degree. So maybe, you know, some things aren't quite said in a text but you can add them, um, expand, basically.

LAURA: It sort of puts the reader in the scene as well.

MARTA: Exactly.

LAURA: So they can see it.

MARTA: Exactly. And it deepens the experience, basically.

LAURA: Yeah. OK, Alex, another one for you. Do you have any tips for writing setting descriptions? How do you set the scene?

ALEX: So the first thing I think about is what do I want the setting to do in- as part of the story? Um, how do I want this place to feel? Um, how do I want the audience to feel about it? And then when you can go from there, when you know what you want, um, you-, how you want the place to feel, then you- you go through your senses. Think about your smell, um, the things you can hear, the things you can see. And then just really go through there, and, um, and using that you can really craft a- a setting.

LAURA: Yeah, that's good. Thank you. And finally, when you're writing, do you ever read the words out loud to see how it sounds? And do you think it's important to use lots of EXPRESSION when reading out LOUD?!

ALEX: [laughs] Um, I–

MARTA: Definitely!

ALEX: Yeah! [laughter] Um, I definitely read out loud, especially because sometimes I may make a little mistake or miss out a word, and so it's good to read out loud to catch that. Um, but also when you read out loud you can really s-, um, sense the rhythm of a piece and how- and how it feels when you're reading it. So yeah, that's definitely something to do, maybe even with some EXPRESSION!

MARTA: Definitely!

LAURA: Yes! Excellent! Amazing. Thank you so much, Alex and Marta.

MARTA AND ALEX: Thank you.

LAURA: Now, Marta, you illustrated "The Breakfast Club Adventures", didn't you?

MARTA: I did indeed.

LAURA: Do you think you could show us how to draw Marcus Rashford?

MARTA: OK, I think I can!

LAURA: OK, come on. Come up to the easel and show us.

MARTA: Right, then.

LAURA: Get a blank piece of paper.OK, grab a paper and pen at home and draw along with Marta.

MARTA: Right, so, to start, we're going to draw…

LAURA: Oh, so we're doing the face shape first off. So we've got the face there.

MARTA: A shape like this.

LAURA: And then the start of the neck.

MARTA: That's right.

LAURA: Okey-doke.

MARTA: Then we're going to…

LAURA: OK, the other side.

MARTA: Go like this.

LAURA: Yeah.

MARTA: Then we're gonna add an ear.

LAURA: Oh, I see, so he's sort of looking over to the right.

MARTA: Just a little bit. It's not straight on.

LAURA: Oh, I like what you've done there.

MARTA: It looks like a little six.

LAURA: Yeah!

MARTA: That'll make it just a little bit easier to draw a complicated feature such as an ear.

LAURA: Very much so. Good tip.

MARTA: We're gonna give him a second ear. [chuckles] The other ear.Something like that. Just more or less along the similar heights.And now we're going to focus on building his hair.

LAURA: Yes, he does need some hair.

MARTA: And so…we make a little shape like this.

LAURA: Oooh. A little like half a broccoli

MARTA: A bit of a half a broccoli, indeed. And then we do the same on the other side, keeping in mind we don't wanna go over the ear too much.Something like this.

LAURA: Ah. Nice.

MARTA: And then we're gonna start building the top part of the so-called broccoli

LAURA: [chuckles]

MARTA: Or Marcus's hair!

LAURA: [laughing] Yeah!

MARTA: And then we're gonna go – just not to get lost in it a bit too much, we go a little bit on one side…a little bit on the other.Something like that.

LAURA: Oh, good tip.

MARTA: As you can see, I was already kind of going a little bit over. So when you do–

LAURA: –Yeah, but it doesn't matter. It's hair, it's fluid.

MARTA: Exactly. And when you do both sides at the same time it's easy to find your way. Now we're gonna do the bottom…part.

LAURA: Oh, nice. We've got his hairline there.

MARTA: There you go.

LAURA: You know, he's looking like he needs some features.

MARTA: I think so. So, let's give him a nose first. So we're gonna look at this little part of the six and this part of the neck. And if we imagine there's a line going across this way and that way, we find a point where we can start drawing the nose. So we go this way, this way–

LAURA: –Nice, a good little measurement point.

MARTA: Exactly.And we mark it, just like that. And we know this is his nostril.Then we draw the other one.And now we're going to just make like a little curve, like so.Little nostrils and a line like that.

LAURA: That's so good. So simple.

MARTA: And just a few lines and we've got a nose.You can just like fiddle a little bit more. And next I think we need to give him a big smile.

LAURA: We do.

MARTA: So, we look at the bottom of the six, again, and a little bit over the nostrils, just to find your way…somewhere here.And we're gonna go…like that, just a little bit higher. And a…There we go.He needs his teeth. So we're gonna go one, two, three, and a little filled-in corner.

LAURA: Ah! Perfect!

MARTA: A little corner. You can just fiddle a little bit more.

LAURA: It's so good. Ah, little expression lines.

MARTA: That's right. And then little lines top and bottom just for a bit more of a lip definition.

LAURA: Ooh. How about his eyes, Marta? He needs some eyes!–

MARTA: –I think we need-, I think so. Right, so we're gonna do top of the ear. Er, in line with the neck. A little dot just to find your way. And we go…over like this.

LAURA: Aah.

MARTA: It doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't even have to join together. Because, again, our eyes change all the time anyway.

LAURA: Yeah.

MARTA: And we draw the other one…like so.I'm gonna do little lines.

LAURA: That's so good.

MARTA: Little circles for the- for the pupils. We can add a little bit more definition on the top of the eye for, well, a bit of, er, lashes.

LAURA: Ooh.

MARTA: Little lines underneath, because he's smiling, and when we smile we've got these little lines. And last but not least…

LAURA: Of course, the eyebrows. They give expression. Oh, and I see what you've done there. You've done it like Marcus' eyebrow.

MARTA: That's right. And it's a nice way because when you're using a pen like s- like this one you can't rub it off. So you just draw the line in there.

LAURA: Will you sign it for us, Marta?

MARTA: I think I have to, yeah!–

LAURA: –So I can put it up in C������̳.Thank you so much. If you've drawn Marcus Rashford then send it in because we want to have a look. Thank you, Marta and Alex, for joining us in Book Club!

MARTA: Thank you!

ALEX: Thank you for having us!

MARTA: Thank you for having us!