Tuesday, May 13, 2008

What a good idea, to go by ninky nonk

Charlie woke with a cold and I heard him from my room, talking to himself: a sneezing, a murmuring, a sneezing, an earnest narrative. Sometimes a scolding. He was figuring something. It was a long, low, murmuring, scolding dissertation in there. Eventually, it was quiet. I went in. He was standing. He looked calm and determined. He pointed to his nose and said, “Nose.” “That’s ri—” I began. But he wasn’t done. Now he concentrated hard, watched my face and said: “Sticky.”
“You’ve got a sticky nose!” I said.
His whole body relaxed, the beautiful relief of being understood.
I changed his nappy and he kicked his legs out, cranky now about his sticky nose. His foot went smack into my eye. I was feeling a little low myself. I asked him to stop kicking. I tried to explain. “It’s just that I really don’t feel like being kicked in the eye today,” I said.
I switched on children’s breakfast television. Imaginary creatures climbing aboard a multi-coloured, flying caravan.
“What a good idea,” the narrator enthused, “to go by ninky nonk!”
I thought of all the curious sentences floating around my house.

16 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I love all your books. I just want to say thankyou very much for making reading so enjoyable for me.

8:32 p.m.  
Blogger Melissa Walker said...

Ooh, I need to get a baby who can inspire me with sentences. I also need a bed like yours. Mmm...

2:54 a.m.  
Blogger Sara O'Leary said...

Hi Jaclyn - I've just found your blog again after following it during the "Pancakes" tour.
Glad to see that life looks good. Charlie looks like a lovely little man (and I agree with his conclusion that hospitals are rotten places to holiday.)
Are you ever in Montreal these days?

12:43 a.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh my god, Charlie looks like a little man. So grown up! I still look at the pictures I took of him in Sydney - so precious and beautiful! I miss you both so much. Anna xo

7:00 a.m.  
Blogger Jaclyn Moriarty said...

Jasmine, Melissa, and o'leary: I'm so grateful for your comments. I'm in Sydney these days, o'leary, but can't wait to visit Canada again. Maybe next year? And Anna: Charlie and I miss you so much too! And would love to see you again soon.

4:39 p.m.  
Blogger Yolanda said...

Hi Jaclyn!

I stumbled on your blog while trying to find out more about your books...

I dont remember exactly which book I read it from (possibly Finding Cassie Crazy?!?!) but you mentioned places in Sydney like Castle Hill and Pennant Hills and I was wondering, did you base the story in this area on purpose?? The reason why i'm asking is because I got quite excited when I heard suburbs from around my area being mentioned - it made the characters seem much more realistic, 3-D and like I had the hope of one day crossing paths with them on my way to school...not that i'd recognise them.

11:13 a.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

this is pretty lame. Look on Lisi Harrisons blog (or should i say blah-g) and theres hundreds of comments. On here usually there isnt any

7:07 a.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Far from lame in my mind... I come to this site to read the blog, not to count the comments on it! I love this, it's real and interesting and if not that many people comment, then it just makes me feel more like I'm one of the few to have discovered a good secret! So thank you, Jaclyn.

2:12 a.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jaclyn, I am a 13 year old girl and I love ALL your books (because you are my favourite author), I have read them all except The Betrayal of Bindy Mackenzie. :(
My favourite one is Finding Cassie Crazy. Your books are always exciting and funny and I just want to say thanks for bringing personalities into books that I can relate to and enjoy. PS: Don't stop writing, I'll buy every one!

9:51 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Jaclyn,
You talked at my school Abbotsleigh today and everyone loved it!! Even those who hadn't read your books loved your talk and are all desperately trying to borrow them from other people! All of mine have been borrowed already!
In your talk you mentioned ghost stories and that you were looking for some for your next book. If you haven't read them, Kim Wilkinson wrote the Gina Champion series and though they are not specifically ghost stories it is very focused on the supernatural. Bloodlace especially has a ghost in it.
You also mentioned that not many people seemed to like The Betrayal of Bindi McKenzie and I just wanted to let you know that I loved it!! It was really different from your other books and very exciting! I did not see the twist at the end coming at all!
Keep writing! And good luck with your ghost story, i can't wait!
Emma

9:22 p.m.  
Blogger Jaclyn Moriarty said...

emma b, thank you so much! It was a real pleasure talking at Abbotsleigh. You were a wonderful audience, and I loved all your stories about dogs and ghosts. And Katie, that is exceptionally kind and thoughtful of you. Melinda and Giant Baby, thank you, too, and yes, I set all my books in the Hills District on purpose. Because I was a teenager there so when I want to go back to teenage years I end up back in the Hills District.

6:15 p.m.  
Blogger Orinoco said...

Hello, I've loved Feeling Sorry For Celia for years, and I recently bought Finding Cassie Crazy and Becoming Bindy Mackenzie. They're amazing. Just wow. Cassie was really enjoyable and I loved all the little twists, whereas Bindy was a bit weird to read, because she was really, really close to what I feel, sometimes - a bit too close. It was insightful, but a bit creepy.

I'd like to know what you classify your books as. Sorry, that sounds a bit weird but I jsut referred to them as 'Teen Lit', but that doesn't seem fair, somehow. If your books are Teen Lit then they're surely the Teen Lit other Teen Lit dreams of being.

(Just something else, uh - Part One of Bindy was BRILLIANT. Amazing introduction to her character in just one page!)

5:30 a.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jesus Christ, Jaclyn.I gave my sister 'Being Bindy Mckenzie' to read, just because it happened to be in my bag at the time. She was up until five in the morning finishing it.I've now given it my Mum to read, who isn't a big reader, and this morning whilst standing next to the kettle which had boiled about ten minutes beforehand, she had your book in her hands, completely engrossed.

You're my favourite author but I have one problem. I really hope you're writing another book, because i've read all of them and I just want more! Invest in a quicker computer! A better computer! A faster flowing ink pen! Something!

x

8:28 p.m.  
Blogger anna said...

You visit schools???? AHHHH why do you not visit my school (Tara) , I only have 2 weeks left of it but there's still time! One can't imagine how enthralled I am by reading your books. That isn't even the right word , only my head knows the word/feeling but um, the point is - you are just magical. Thank you so muchh for existing... Although perhaps you've somewhat affected my homework doing , since I just spent like 2 hours or something reading your blogs. They are just as entertaining and insightful as your books by the way..HURRY up and finish writing haha , sorry .. I mean to say- there are only so many thousands of times in which I can read the same 4 books, though I do enjoy them every single time...

10:03 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is certainly my favourite blog to read! Although I'm perhaps a little old to be reading your "Tenage Fiction" books, I absolutely loved them! I'm sure its a sign of finding a new favourite autthor when you read a book and think, "At last! Yet another one I can add to my 'If I could invite anyone' dinner party! They get it!

But once I found out about I Have a Bed Made of Buttermilk Pancakes, I had to make a serious informed decision. To read that, or The Spellbook of Listen Taylor. Because after reading the synopsises, reading both seemed impossible!

I just wanted to say, I decided on Buttermilk Pancakes and I just thought it was absolutely brilliant! I adored all the characters, especially Fancy. And now that I've finished it (and doing the usual 6 month break before allowing myself a re-read!) I'm just urging you to write more adult fiction! I don't beleive Buttermilk Pancakes is available here in the UK, I most devinitely took an incredibly convoluted journey to get hold of a copy!
And I've got to say, that in regards to teen fiction-young British girls I'm sure would certainly prefer yor books to the ones that pretend girls in England from the 50s onwards still use the word "snog".


But atleast this blog is quite nearly a novel's worth to keep me sane until then!

Thankyou very much for writing it and all of your books!

Jodie

Ps. Not entirely unrelated, I just thought I'd recommend this excellent documentary recently aired in Britain called 'My New Best Friend', following secondary school girls at both prestigious private schools and inner city schools. If you can see it, it's brilliant. Both touching and heart breaking. Adults really do underestimate the emotionaly maturity 12 year olds have!

5:58 a.m.  
Blogger Jaclyn Moriarty said...

Tamahelen, Loretta, Anna and Jodie, your generous comments make my head spin with happiness. Thank you so much. Tamahelen, the classification issue is an intriguing one and I will write about it one day soon. In the meantime, I am happy to have people of any age read my books. And that reminds me, Jodie, I am working on another 'adult' book at the moment, which I also hope that people of any age will read. Not babies, I suppose. Your message makes me want to keep writing it. (And I owe it to publishers so I guess I have to.) And Anna, I would be glad to visit your school but I think I might have missed your two week deadline already. Very sorry.

5:18 p.m.  

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