Another Chilly October Newsletter

...but maybe you can warm it in the microwave.

This month last year I sent my first newsletter via Substack.

I thought I'd start off with the most boring line ever and see if anyone stopped reading.

If you're still reading, you get the prize…

…of finding out what else I'm going to write about. Or, rather, what I’m not going to write about:

In that newsletter last year, I wrote about Inktober. I will not be mentioning that, nor any other drawing challenge in this newsletter. Like I said to my sticker-buddy

Teresa Barroso

: my challenge this month is to not join any drawing challenges. And it is hard! But thankfully I'm enough of a rebel that “fear of missing out” just makes me more determined to ignore the tempting little drawing-challenge voices.

I don't have time, little voices! I'm busy!

What are you busy with, Robyn?

Well, I shall tell you:

This week, as well as spending much quality time with my visiting sister-and-family, I am

• preparing for the Frome market on Sunday where I shall be drawing portraits,¹

• finishing one illustration commission² and starting another three,

• writing this newsletter,

• and, in non-illustration life, I’m organising the Friday after-school church club, singing at a funeral, and all sorts of other stuff. Blah blah blah.

And the rest of this month, as well as everyday stuff, I'll also be working on a picture book idea. So far I've got the plot and have developed a character. Here are some initial sketches:

And since we’re talking about children’s books, I recently found an old edition of a book by A. A. Milne called Once On A Time,³ in the introduction of which he makes a good point about writing for a target age:

“For whom, then, is the book intended? That is the trouble. Unless I can say, "For those, young or old, who like the things which I like," I find it difficult to answer. Is it a children's book? Well, what do we mean by that? Is The Wind in the Willows a children's book? Is Alice in Wonderland? Is Treasure Island? These are masterpieces which we read with pleasure as children, but with how much more pleasure when we are grown-up.
In any case what do we mean by "children"? A boy of three, a girl of six, a boy of ten, a girl of fourteen—are they all to like the same thing? […] I confess that I cannot grapple with these difficult problems. But I am very sure of this: that no one can write a book which children will like, unless he write it for himself first.”

He agrees with C.S. Lewis then, who says in On Three Ways of Writing for Children:

“A children’s story which is enjoyed only by children is a bad children’s story. The good one’s last.”

That’s all I have to say about that.

Drawing Play-Date

The next Drawing Play-Date will be on Monday the 13th (that’s soon!) at 6pm UK time. Bring your favourite drawing utensils and join me for some fun and silliness. I'll also be picking the winners of my sticker packs!⁴ (You don't actually have to be there to win, I'll email the winners afterwards.)

From next month we'll be drawing together in the afternoons (in the UK) to make the most of the light (as there's a shortage of it in winter here). Join me on the 18th of November at 1pm UK time:

Just for fun

I'm going to share an overheard conversation between a little girl and her dad who were on the swings at a local park:

Girl: I'm not a baby anymore.

Dad: Aw, don't you want to stay a baby a little longer?

Girl: No, I'm a big girl. I've got legs, and they go all the way to my toes.

This month, our word of the week is a word about words. It’s a word I have enjoyed the sound of since I heard the sound of it way back in my childhood, when I was young.
Have you worked out what it is yet? That awkward sentence was a clue…

tautology: Redundant use of words; unnecessary and tedious repetition.
(I like this word for multiple reasons: it reminds me of tortoises, it sound like it should mean “the study of tight things,” and it's fun to shout when I catch someone being repetitive.)

Let's use it: Penelope sighed. “Gertrude still hasn't yet replied back to me.”
“Tautology!” I shouted. “That's two occurrences of tautology in one sentence. I'm afraid we can no longer be friends.”
And I never saw Penelope again.

Don't worry, I wouldn't stop being friends with you just because you were unnecessarily repetitive. But I do wish people would stop saying “reply back.” It's not as though someone could reply forward or sideways, or even up or down. A person could write back or call back, but if they reply, then that's all they -

Sorry, I'm interrupting myself because I can feel a long rant building up. I'll end with some odd pictures to distract you:

And that's enough from me. Hopefully I'll see you on Monday at the Drawing Play-Date, if not before then.

1. Just in case you’re curious about when my next markets are, the info is in last month’s newsletter:
“In October you’ll be able to see me at the Frome Flea & Craft on the 13th and the Somerset Christmas Fair on the 27th…
Then I’ll be in hibernation until March, because it’s not easy trying to draw with numb fingers.”
I really hope I’m going to be warm enough this Sunday… Maybe I should invest in some electric hand-warmers…

2. And in case you’re interested in finding out more about commissioning me to draw something, just reply or comment or contact me via my special contact form.

3. I highly recommend it…though I am only 4 chapters in. It’s written with exactly my sense of humour. It’s full of illogical consequences and “whimsical misunderstandings.” Oh, and you can read the e-book for free thanks to Project Gutenberg, here.

4. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, find more info in last month’s newsletter.