My Shorts Tales for Kids (The Winning one)

[JamesMcVean]

Hi there

Here is my winning Entry for the BBC Writing Competition -

I dont know if the compilation is going to be available to buy as the BEEB cannot be seen to be making a profit...(strange) but I mangaged to get hold of half a dozen copies ;oP

Called - PINK?

It is based around a central hub of cartoony kids characters in Max and Lara's Travelling Space Circus...ENJOY


Pink?

The Big Top went into orbit around a small pink planet.
Max and Lara could barely contain Tiny as she rushed around in a state of high excitement. The Travelling Space Circus was going to do a performance for the people of the planet Strong.
"Oh, you’ve got to come down with me, to meet my family!" cried Tiny.
Max gave Lara a sideways glance, "But everything’’s pink! I mean everything."
Lara shot her brother a cross look and said, "We would love to, Tiny!"

As the small shuttle craft landed in a pink park of pink trees and pink grass, Tiny began to give Max and Lara a warning. "Please, both of you must be very careful here for…"
"Yeah, Yeah!" said Max impatiently, opening the hatch and leaping outside. "Whoa!" he cried as he collapsed onto the pink grass, falling flat onto his back, pinned and barely able to breathe.
Lara strapped on the anti-gravity belt, Tiny had given her, and floated down to her brother. She giggled as she helped him strap on his belt.
"I was going to tell you about this planet’s gravity, Max, but you were far too hasty." said Tiny.
Max gave a sheepish grin, as he rubbed a fresh bruise to add to his collection. Suddenly a small pink dog bounded across the park towards them, barking enthusiastically.
"Here boy!" Max cried, crouching.
"Oh no! Max!" Tiny tried to stop the dog but it was too late. As the dog hit, Max was sent tumbling head-over-heels, crashing painfully into the leg of the shuttle.
"Ow!" he groaned.
"That was another thing I about to warn you about, Max. Here on Strong, everyone and everything is just that – Strong! So be careful!"

Tiny’s family was pink. Max shook her Father’s large pink hand very carefully. He shook her Mother’s hand equally carefully. He was doing rather well till he bent to greet her baby Sister. The pink baby grabbed hold of Max’s hand and picked him clean off the floor, and began shaking him up and down like a large rattle.
"He..lp..me! He…lp me!" Max cried.
Lara and Tiny couldn’t stop giggling, and the more they laughed, the faster the baby shook poor Max! Eventually she tossed him aside, preferring her rattle instead.
"I….feel…sick!" Max complained. "I think I had better go! We have a show to practice for!"
Lara had listened carefully and sat eating lovely pink cake with pink lemonade to follow. She spent a wonderful day with Tiny and her family.

The End

[JamesMcVean]

Hi there

Here are a few more of the Short Stories that I entered in the BBC Writing Comp...but didnt make the book lol


Dr Gloom

Baked bean, the dragon, was just about finished his death defying high-wire act, when tall of a sudden sirens wailed and harsh klaxons buzzed.
Below, Max looked at Lara and together they both said, "Dr Gloom!"
A massive holographic head appeared in the centre of the arena, a deep frown permanently pasted across a menacing face, half hidden in the deep shadow of his wide-brimmed hat.
"Prepare for sadness!" Dr Gloom’s deep, slow voice boomed. "Prepare for sorrow, for today it will be my greatest pleasure to test my newest weapon on you, the annoyingly happy people of the Space Circus! Mwahahahaha! Prepare for the MISE-Ray!"
This was the first time that Max had heard their nemesis, old gloomy pants, laugh and it chilled him to the bone. Suddenly a jarring explosion shook the Circus and a thick beam of greenish light punched into the arena. A terrible sound followed, like a moan or cry of deep sorrow.
Gradually all the love, joy and hope in Max’s heart seemed to evaporate like a small puddle on a hot summer’s day. As he stared sadly into the light, Max caught a glimpse of Mr Scatterbrain whizzing upwards on his jet-powered unicorn, a large custard pie in each hand.
Even over the moaning din of the MISE-Ray Max thought he could hear Scatterbrain’s infectious giggle. A few moments later, the green light began to fade and the feelings of desperate sadness disappeared.
Soon Mr Scatterbrain zoomed back though the hole, empty handed, laughing so hard, he almost fell from his unicorn’s saddle.
"One for the Good Doctor, and one right down the barrel of the MISE-Ray. Ho ho ho!"
The custard splattered face in the hologram roared in rage and frustration, crying, "We will meet again cursed Space Circus!"
"Ho ho ho," laughed Max. "Next time buy a ticket like everyone else!"

The End

First Flight

Baked Bean, the circus dragon, stood on the high-wire platform, gazing down at the rest of the circus performers practicing their routines. Tiny the Strongiod lifted heavy weights and twirled them like a majorette with a baton. Max did daring acrobatic flips and twists, flipping and flopping as if he was made from rubber, while Mr Scatterbrain zoomed here and there causing mayhem and mischief on his jet powered unicorn.
Baked Bean heaved a sigh, wishing he could do more than wobble back and forth on the high wire.
"Bean! Bean!" Lara’s excited voice drifted up and cut through his longing thoughts. "I’m coming up!"
Baked Bean gave a little dance of joy at the thought of company, and the rapid ting of metal boots on the rungs announced her arrival.
"Look, Bean! Look!" Lara held out a large leather bound book. "I just picked this up for you at the cosmic library…it’s just what you need!"
Baked Bean looked at the cover - Large gold leaf letters spelled - ‘Flying for beginners by Professor Igneous Roar’ - the cleverest dragon that ever lived.
"I read it on the way over," she panted with barely concealed excitement as he leafed through the pages. "You’ve been doing it all wrong, Bean!"
Baked Bean’s heart began to race as Lara’s enthusiasm rubbed off on him.
"What d’I do? What d’I do?" he cried.
"Well, for starters, you have to take a really deep breath. Then pull in your tummy muscles really, really tight and something called a chemical reaction will happen in your belly. This causes some sort of gas and it makes you feel a lot lighter!"
Baked Bean tried, first drawing a deep breath, then tightening his stomach muscles till he thought he might burst. A windy feeling rippled inside him and sure enough he began to feel really light. A giddy feeling of sheer excitement swept over him.
"Now, Bean! Flap your wings!" Lara cried with glee.
He did, and suddenly he hit his head on the roof of the big top arena. His yellow eyes nearly popped out of his head when he looked down to see Lara far below waving frantically from the high-wire platform.
"I’m flying! I’m really flying!"
He tilted his wings one way and then the other, swooping this way and that, slicing through the air like a blue streak.
Suddenly the familiar feeling of heaviness began to return, and he flapped his wings faster in panic. He could just hear Lara give a small shriek of fear as he plummeted like a stone towards the floor.
Bump!
Baked Bean landed on his bedroom floor with a painful thud, as he fell out of bed.

The End.


Sorry

"Please, Max. Please, please, please!" Lara whined.
Max gave an angry huff. "You are such a nuisance, Lara! I wish you had never been born!" He barked.
Lara’s face instantly fell and large tears beaded on her lashes. She turned and bolted from the room in floods of tears.
Hot shame coloured Max’s cheeks and he knew that he had overstepped the mark with his nasty comment. Lara had only been asking him to take her a ride in his spaceship, again and again and again, grating on his nerves.
Mr Scatterbrain stepped from behind the spaceship and looked at Max, for the first time Max could remember he was not smiling.
"Just imagine what it would be like if Lara did not exist, Max."
Max hung his head.
Scatterbrain continued, "Who remembered your home co-ordinates that time you accidently pressed the hyperspace button on the Big Top drive unit?"
"Lara did. She has a very good memory." Max replied in a quiet voice.
"And who rescued you from the space pirate when you were in deep trouble recently?"
"Lara did. She is pretty fearless for a girl…" Max smiled at the memory.
"Indeed…and who made you laugh when you swallowed one of Dr Gloom’s sadness pills, breaking the magical curse?"
Max gave a small laugh, "Lara did! She knows just where my ribs are the tickliest!"
Mr Scatterbrain smiled sadly.
"So, do you really wish she had never been born, Max?"
Max shook his head.
"Of course not! For then I would be completely alone in this universe…" Max leapt to his feet and ran out of the room, down the corridor, skidding to a stop outside a door lined with pink fluff, painted with a big yellow teddy. He knocked.
"Come in!" Lara shouted, sniffing loudly.
Max stood in the open doorway holding out a set of keys, dangling in his hand.
"I’m really sorry, Sis…Come on, I’m gonna give you a flying lesson!"
Lara leapt from the bed and threw her arms around Max’s chest hugging him tightly.
"Oh Max! I was so afraid you didn’t love me anymore!" She sobbed.
Max felt a lump rise in his throat, but he bit his lip. He wouldn’t let her see him cry.
"I really miss mum and dad, Max…"
"Me too, Lara…Me too…

The End

[JamesMcVean]

Here is another short tale that I entered in the competition -

Pirates of the Can O’Beans
Part 1
Max slowly unfolded Uncle Albert’s red, spotty hanky, carefully checking it for bogeys before tying it around his head like a bandanna. Then he peeled the large square plaster from his knee wincing as he separated it from scab underneath.
"This should do the trick!" he declared to Lara and Tiny, who stood gawking at him in bewilderment.He took the dirty plaster and stuck it over his left eye. Max lifted Kooloo onto his shoulder. "Right, Kooloo, you are gonna be my parrot!"
The communication chip beeped and Kooloo nodded his understanding.
"Rarrrk, pieces of eight!" The tiny electronic voice squeaked back at him.Max’s face split into a wide toothy grin.
"I am going to be Captain Blackheart, the fearsome pirate of the seven galaxies."
They had just finished watching an ancient copy of a pirate holomovie and Max had loved every minute of it.
"Can I be a pirate too?" Lara asked.
Max shook his head. "Girls cant be pirates! But I can be the swashbuckling hero and save you from the baddies. Arrrr, Jim lad."
"Who’s Jim?" Lara asked.
Max heaved a sigh. "Arrr, Jim lad, is something all pirates say! It’s like Shiver Me Timbers! Didn’t you watch the holomovie?"
"Well we are not afraid of baddies! Are we Lara?" Tiny declared her pink hair shivering with anger. "Come on, Lara. We can play with my robodolls!"
The girls left Max and Kooloo in the shuttle bay, the doors hissing closed behind them.
"Looks like it’s just you and me, Kooloo." Max said as he climbed the metal ladder into his spacecraft.
"Rarrk, Pieces of Eight!" Kooloo squeaked.
He settled himself into the cockpit and pressed the red button. The hatch closed with a hum and slowly the little shuttle rose to a hover. Lifting the communication microphone to his mouth, he called the control tower.
"Alpha one, Alpha one, this is Max requesting clearance to leave the Big Top."
There was a crackle of static before his Auntie Edith’s voice echoed over the airwaves, "Ok, Max. But dont go more that a few thousand miles, as dinner is going to be at seven!"
"Aww, Auntie...but..."
"No buts, Max! Understood?"
"Understood!" Max pushed the control stick forward and his craft shot out though the force-field into the vast darkness of space.
He twisted his little ship into a tight spin, zooming along the brightly painted hull of their space circus home "The Big Top"
He flipped the communication antenna switch and rotated it to deep space.
"This is Captain Blackheart, king of the Can'o'beans, calling all pirates!"
Suddenly a scruffy face appeared on the screen in the middle of the console.
"Who be this Blackheart? Never heard o' him!" The voice was gruff and scary, making Max swallow, fearful at the completely unexpected response.
"I am locking onto your signal, Blackheart...prepare for teleportation!"
"Oh no!" Max said with a sinking feeling.
"Pieces of Eight!" Kooloo squeaked urgently, "Call Tiny and Lara!"
Max sent a distress signal to his sister, as a glowing sphere appeared in space before his ship. Slowly the ball of light swallowed him and in the next instant he was gone!

Part2
Max woke up in a dark room with no windows and floor to ceiling bars along one wall. Kooloo was sleeping, rolled up into a ball, still balanced upon his shoulder. He was now a prisoner, deep in the brig of a real pirate ship!
A creaked open to reveal a tall, bulky man with a bushy, black beard, wearing a three pointed hat sporting a silver skull and crossed bones badge.
"Lemme see your Pirates Licence!" He boomed, hobbling in on a wooden peg-leg.
"You need a licence to be a pirate?" Max asked.
The pirate gave a gruff guffaw. "You aint a real pirate, are you boy?"
"I think that is pretty obvious." Max said, "Even my parrot is just a hamster!"
An evil glint entered the pirate's good eye. "I can sell you in the slave market..." He rubbed his beard, thinking aloud, "Might get enough to buy a barrel of rum!
Suddenly the room rocked as a mighty boom shook the ship, followed by a series of sharp twangs that sounded like snapping guitar strings.
Alarms, buzzers and klaxons rang out, and the large pirate swung his shaggy head towards the door.
"Let my brother go, you naughty pirate!"Tiny and Lara stood in the doorway dressed in makeshift pirate outfits.
Tiny rushed forwards and pulled open the bars as if they were made of warm toffee.
"What makes you landlubbers think that I will allow you to leave?" The pirate stood with his hands on his hips.
Lara faced him and spoke in a sweet and matter-of-fact voice. "We think you will be too busy stopping your ship from floating into the sun, Mr Pirate. You see, when we arrived, we cut all the lines to your solar sails and now you are drifting helpless."
The pirate’s bushy brow darkened with suspicion and possibly even fear, before he swiveled on his wooden peg and vanished, cursing as he went.
Max simply stood with his mouth wide open, before pulling off his Uncle’s Hanky and handing it to his smiling, little sister.
"Here, Sis. You made a bloomin good pirate after all."
"Rarrk, Pieces of Eight!" squeaked Kooloo.

THE END

[JamesMcVean]

Space Exercise

Kooloo the space hamster gave an exasperated sigh as the battery powering his training spaceship began to fade and die…again. The lights on the small console winked out and the rotating metal rings around the outside of the ship slowly ground to a halt. Weightlessness returned and he once again strapped on the magnetic soles onto his little spaceboots.
"You OK out there, little buddy?" Max’s voice buzzed over his helmet’s intercom.
"Flat…Again!" squeaked Kooloo in complaint, as he lifted the floor hatch to the battery room, and climbed down into the darkness.
"We’re gonna have’ta come up with a better power system…maybe a combination of battery and solar power…you must be getting pretty tired eh?"
"Yup…Sooner the better, Max!" Kooloo muttered opening the door to the battery charging chamber. A series of ladder like iron rungs ran up the wall and over his head, behind him and back to his feet again.
"Here we go again!" He said to himself as he began to climb. The giant wheel began to rotate, slowly at first then picking up speed, making Kooloo puff and pant, fogging the inside of his glass dome helmet. Faster and faster he almost ran around the wheel. The whirring wheel spun the magnets that charged his ship, and to his surprise he found that he was beginning to really enjoy the challenge of the wheel.
"I…." puff, "must…." pant, "remember…to…tell," puff, "the rest…of," pant, "the…hamsters…about," puff, "this…fun!"
Max’s voice buzzed into his helmet once more, "I don’t think it would catch on, Kooloo. I can’t imagine hamsters actually wanting to run round and round a wheel!"

The Photo

Baked Bean stood silently looking at the page of his family photo album. There on the first page was his favorite picture. It showed his dad, wings outstretched, standing on a mountain top, a whooshing roar of flame shooting into the clear blue sky. A small shiver shook him and sent his scales clacking right down to the tip of his pointed tail.
A large tear welled up and splashed noisily on the floor.
"What’s up, bean?"
Baked Bean turned to find Max standing behind him, a frown of concern on his face.
"I wish I had a photo of me blowing flames…like my dad."
Max thought carefully, stroking his chin for a moment, "Remember that young earth girl – Freya? I’m sure she said that her dad works on an oilrig…and that gives me an idea, come on!"
Max grabbed Baked Bean’s hand and ran to the shuttle bay and his spaceship.


*

Freya was tucked up in bed with Pooh bear when she heard a massive thump on the roof of the house that shook her ceiling light. She leapt from the bed and pulled on her slippers and dressing gown, before pulling open the window.
"Hiya Freya!" Max hung over the edge of the roof, hanging upside down.
Freya gave a squeal of fright and almost fell out the window. Max grabbed her hand and easily swung her up onto the roof and into the ship.
"Freya, your dad works on an oilrig, right?" Max asked.
She nodded, still shaking slightly from the shock.
"Where abouts?"
Freya’s face crinkled in concentration, "I think he said it was near Aberdeen!"


*

In less than five minutes Max had his spaceship hovering a mile above the sleeping city of Aberdeen. Sure enough off to the Northwest twinkled the orangey lights of an oilrig.
"Is that a Sea Dragon?!" Baked Bean asked, when the drew closer to the floating rig.
"Don’t be silly," Freya said with a laugh, "that’s my dad’s oilrig! Those big floating thingies are called pontoons, that tall tower thing is called the derrick and those arms are called the flares, where they burn off the extra gas." Freya’s face fairly beamed with delight as she got to share her excellent knowledge with her new friends.
Max landed on the hexagonal heli-deck, then led Baked Bean to the edge.
"Stand right there please, Bean." He then pulled a small digital camera from his pocket. "Left a bit…turn your head slightly upwards…now, open your mouth wide and show me your teeth! Come on, roar!"
"Great!" Max cried, piling everyone back into his ship. "Now let’s see…"
He placed the camera in a docking slot and pressed a button on the console, slowly a picture hummed though a slot.
"Excellent!" He handed the picture to the dragon.
Baked Bean’s jaw almost hit the ground in surprise. In his hand he now held a picture of himself with a huge spout of flames shooting into night sky, the effect was amazing. Suddenly he began to hip and hop, shake and shimmy, jig and jog, bop and boogie - dancing with delight.
The End.

[JamesMcVean]

Sand


"You do realise the importance of this mission, Freya?" Max asked with a serious frown. "You are the first earth girl to join us, you know."
Freya nodded fastening her seatbelt and buckling the shoulder harness, her stomach twittering and bubbling with nervous excitement.
On her right, in the other passenger seat, sat her best friend Lara, dressed in her special silver spacesuit, complete with two strings of multi-coloured beads.
Max adjusted his space helmet’s visor and leaned forward, beginning to punch buttons on the spaceship’s control console.
"Ready?" He leaned back and looked at Freya and his sister.
"Ready!" They both shouted at the same time.
"Ten...nine...eight...seven...six..." He punched more buttons and began pulling levers, "three...two...one!"
"Lift off!" shouted the girls.
A deep rumbling vibration sent the teeth chattering in Freya’s head. The lights dimmed as they passed up through the clouds, streaking through the perfect blue, onwards into the needled pointed blanket of night.
Max pulled back on a large joystick, tilting and turning the ship. The shining blue and white crescent of the earth filled the window. He pushed another lever all the way to the floor and they streaked in a high orbit around the planet, shooting off towards what Freya though was a little red star.
"What is that?" She asked Max.
"Not what...where..." he answered her cryptically. "It is Mars."
"Can I press the button, Max?" Lara asked her brother.
"OK," he nodded.
Lara pressed the button in the centre of the buckle, sending the straps sliding back into the chair. She floated free, drifting weightless, till she pushed herself towards the console. Max lifted a clear plastic cover from a big red button and Lara pressed it with the palm of her little hand.
"Hyperdrive initiated!" Max shouted.
Suddenly the stars around them turned to slightly blurry lines. The red dot suddenly became a large glowing disc, fiery and bright with stripes and swirls of maroon and amber, yellow and the deepest reds.
Max turned and spoke in his best space captain’s voice. "Welcome, passengers, to the magnificent globe that is Mars! Thank you for flying with us today! I hope you have a safe and pleasant onward journey!"
Lara helped Freya on with her space helmet, as Max landed the ship on the sand. Soft ruby sunlight poured through the opening hatch.
"Here we are, Freya." Lara shouted, gleefully. "And here are our scientific implements!"
In her hands dangled two plastic spades, and two castle shaped buckets.
"Come on girls! Best sandcastle gets to fly home!" Max yelled, leaping through the hatch, performing a somersault, landing with his spade ready!




Rose Tinted Glasses

"Mum?" Freya asked, twisting in the salon chair.
Mum lowered her glossy magazine. "What?"
"Can I get some pink in my hair? Please!" Freya chanced an ask, knowing full well her mother’s answer.
"No, Freya. Not till you turn sixteen! You are not even six yet, what do you think, Roz?"
Roz, the owner and main stylist at ‘Hair @ 21’ smiled and agreed with mum, though her own hair changed colour every time Freya had her hair trimmed.
The large double door burst open hitting the coat stand, sending it flying.
"Oops, sorry!" A small voice said from behind the receptionist’s counter.
Freya glanced in her mirror and caught sight of a shocking pink head of hair, it was Tiny, her Strongoid friend from the Space Circus.
"Hi Tiny!" Freya shouted across the salon, "Mum wont let me get my hair done like yours…"
Tiny was dressed from head to toe in pink as usual. The receptionist led her to the chair next to Freya.
"Oh, Hi Freya! Just a trim please." She said to the young stylist.
Roz had finished Freya’s cut and went to take the payment from Mum.
"Pssst…Here!" Tiny handed Freya what looked like a pair of pink sunglasses, "Try these, have fun!"
Freya tried on the specs, but to her disappointment they never dimmed the light one little bit. "They don’t work." She whispered.
Tiny laughed. "Just think, think, think, pink, pink, pink!"
Freya’s brow crinkled in humorous confusion.
She looked at herself in the mirror. "Pink, Pink, Pink!"
All of a sudden her hair turned bright pink. She caught her breath in surprise. As she lifted off the glasses, everything went back to normal.
"Wow!" Freya breathed.
She turned and looked at her mum.
"Pink, Pink, Pink!"
All mum’s clothes and her long blonde hair went pink. Freya giggled.
"Bye Tiny! Thanks for these!" Freya said farewell to her pal.
The burnt orange people carrier was parked across the road.
"Oh yes! Pink, Pink, Pink!" The car changed colour.
"What?" asked mum, "Hey, nice glasses!"
"Yeah, my friend Tiny gave them to me. I cant wait to see Dad" She burst into gales of infectious laughter.
Mum laughed and shook her head.

[JamesMcVean]

This was the last one...for the BBC writing Competition...Thought I would let you see my stuff lol
Cheers
James

A Walk in the Park

Freya pulled her scarf tighter as a cold, gusty wind rustled the autumn leaves between the trees.
"Come on, Dougal!" She shouted to her little, wheaten Cairn Terrier, who darted between the trees with her dad in tow. "Daddy, It’s freezing!"
She had decided to leave her video game and come to the park with her dad and the dog to get a break from her twin sisters; who were teething and very noisy with it.
She pulled her pink bobble hat down over her ears and huffed noisily.
"Come over, Freya…There’s a robin over here."
Freya forgot her cold toes and ran to him.
"Where? Where is it?"
But the little red bird had gone.
"Daddy, can I go up on your shoulders?" she whined.
He sighed. "Freya, you know that I can’t when we’re taking Dougal!"
They carried on down the track towards the river.
Freya dawdled again and as dad reached the water’s edge, he shouted excitedly, "Freya! Quick! There are Otters in the river!"
Once more Freya ran, and again the animals had gone.
"Awww!" she began to cry.
She turned to her dad and was shocked into silence when she noticed that he was frozen, completely still, even Dougal had stopped at a tree mid-sniff.
"It’s Okay. Time has been frozen, for a few minutes."
A small girl stepped out from between the trees. She was pink! Pink hair, pink all-in-one spacesuit and shocking-pink boots.
Pink was Freya’s favorite colour.
"I like your hair!" Freya cried. "My name is Freya and I am five and a half!"
The small pink girl took her hand and shook it very carefully. "Tiny, that’s me. I’m with the Space Circus."
"Space Circus…What do you do?" Freya asked in awe.
"I do feats of strength. I’m a Strongoid."
"Oh…"
"Come with me for a moment?" Tiny asked.
Freya looked up at her frozen dad. "Err…"
Tiny gave her hand a little squeeze and laughed, "Don’t worry, he will be Okay."
She led Freya through the trees to a small clearing where the sight that greeted almost took the little girl’s breath away- It was filled with wildlife. Cats sat next to dogs, birds lined every branch sitting patiently. Little balls of fur rolled around to the front and it took Freya a moment or two to realise that they were tiny rabbits. She gave a small gasp of delight when she clapped eyes on the family of otters sitting right at the front.
Tiny gave her a small pink ticket, and led her to a fallen log to sit. Silence fell over the clearing as something large lowered slowly from the sky above.
The Circus came to the forest, and gave one little girl a performance to remember.
*
Dad blinked and looked round, as if waking from a strange dream. A small warm hand grabbed his and he gazed down at his daughter. She was beaming a huge smile and clutching a small piece of pink paper in her hand.
"Come on, Daddy! I’ve got a great story for the twins!"
THE END

[wifie]

Hi as promised my (nearly 8 year old) daughter has had a read (4 stories so far).
Here is her crit ;)

Pink - Cool and funny - liked the strength angle.
Dr Gloom - Really good story.
First Flight - Liked how it was really a dream.
Sorry - One to tell her brother as he wishes she wasn't here sometimes.

After the news story today about putting age ranges on books - what age range are you aiming at and what do you think of this as an idea?

[JamesMcVean]

Hey thanks wifie

and thanks to your daughter!!

I think I wrote them with younger readers in mind...6-10yrs...and tried to theme them with a message or thinking point...hence the winning one being about listening before diving in with both feet...lol

My normal age range for writing is Young Adult upwards...ie 12-100!! and this is my very first attempt at writing this sort of thing...it was quite surprising to learn that my PINK? tale made it into a book of only 18 tales ahead of 2500 others!! Gave me a nice wee boost in confidence...

I think it is a good idea to include an age range on a book sleeve as long as it is a minimum age only!! Most of my readers to date have been older...and I would hate to think that someone would be put off reading one of my tales thinking they were too old!! LOL

I am going to stick with my usual adventure fantasy stuff for the time being but saying that I think It would be really great fun to actually make up a series of longer tales or "one offs" similar to the competition stuff...

That is the beauty with the publishing system that I use for my books...online and on demand...I can run out a few dozen or hundreds depending on the need...so It would be quite simple really to knock up a younger readers book and as your cost is ruled by the page count...it should be cheaper to produce too...

Again thanks to your daughter and I am glad she enjoyed them...

James McVean

[teenybash]

Love the character ''Baked Bean''........could definately see him zooming from adventure to adventure.....jet propelled of course....all those beans I guess !!!!
Great stuff. :eek:

[JamesMcVean]

Thanks teeny

Glad you enjoyed them...

I think I would really love to write more in this genre...I found it really easy

I must be a big kid at heart:cool:


Anyone wishing to read my other work can email me for a free download

Cheers

James

[teenybash]

All writers are children at heart and thats the way it should be..............we all need the 'land of make believe' in our lives somewhere............that's what writers are for.
Good luck and here's to more success for you and your work.

[JamesMcVean]

teeny

I was in Orkney last week visiting my folks, and was contacted by a lassie at the BBC wanting me to come into the Radio Orkney Studio and record a session of questions and answers followed by a read of my winning short tale...was really interesting abd nerve wracking lol I just imagined that I was reading the tale to my daughter...

The lass said it was to be added to a website as a podcast and will include parts of my story and interiew...

When I get the link from the BBC - I will post it on the org for all to enjoy lol

(cringe)

LOL

James