Stephen Isabirye

Which other authors do you enjoy? Discuss them here.
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pete9012S
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Re: The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage

Post by pete9012S »

There I was just minding my own business,perusing this offbeat open contours web page,when lo and behold I beheld a review of said web page,and a plug for a book by none other than our esteemed forum member Stephen,,,,,

http://opencontours.wordpress.com/2010/ ... -attitude/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Regards
Pete
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Anita Bensoussane
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Re: The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Well done for finding an article with a Faraway Tree reference, Stephen (and Pete!) The reviewer says:

"However, there are the works that truly stand out, to use a cheeky description, like the rose among the thorns. Ye Shufang’s watercolour works could easily go the way of Haslinda AR’s drawings, but they put across a succinct message through a discerning choice of presentation. In Drawings for Grace (The Folk of the Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton), we see a magnification of a page from Enid Blyton’s storybooks, dedicated to Grace, the artist’s daughter. Ye gives the innocuous drawings the full picturesque treatment, framing it like a classical portraiture."

Hmm - I'd say that Rene Cloke's "innocuous drawings" are better than any of the other "artwork" featured. And why does Ye Shufang get so much praise for "a discerning choice of presentation," simply for enlarging someone else's work and framing it?!
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Re: The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage

Post by Julie2owlsdene »

Stephen, may I ask you whether or not you've approached a publisher to have your novel published. I was just wondering whether or not you had had it rejected and that's why you decided to get it self published?

8)
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Re: The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage

Post by Lucky Star »

Anita Bensoussane wrote: And why does Ye Shufang get so much praise for "a discerning choice of presentation," simply for enlarging someone else's work and framing it?!
My thoughts exactly. If I put a copy of one of Tresilian's magnificent Adventure series illustrations in a frame from my local framing shop will I be an artist? :?
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Re: The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage

Post by Enikyoga »

Julie2owlsdene wrote:Stephen, may I ask you whether or not you've approached a publisher to have your novel published. I was just wondering whether or not you had had it rejected and that's why you decided to get it self published?

8)
Actually, I am talking of entirely two different publications over almost four decades apart. I tried write a novel, some almost four decades ago, having been inspired by Enid Blyton's books. I finished it. It was written via long hand since I did not have access to an electronic typewriter, nor computers (PCs hadn't been invented at that time. Though we had a portable typewriter (maybe almost within the realm of Enid Blyton's portable typewriter), my typing skills were next to non existent. I submitted the novel to my local publisher. After a three-month delay, I was handed back the manuscript with a note that they regretted, they couldn't publish it. I was a bit discouraged and thI gave up hope of publishing, until I decided to publish this book on Enid Blyton which is non-fiction.
Stephen I.
Last edited by Enikyoga on 15 Jan 2012, 15:37, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage

Post by pete9012S »

Anita Bensoussane wrote:
And why does Ye Shufang get so much praise for "a discerning choice of presentation," simply for enlarging someone else's work and framing it?!



Yes,what is art?......can art be what the artist says he wants it to be?.....

Does art have the right to be 'cheeky'?.....the artist featured in the link below seems to think so! :shock:

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/mar/20 ... me-seats20" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Regards
Pete :wink:
Last edited by pete9012S on 01 May 2010, 18:04, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Lucky Star wrote:
Anita Bensoussane wrote: And why does Ye Shufang get so much praise for "a discerning choice of presentation," simply for enlarging someone else's work and framing it?!
My thoughts exactly. If I put a copy of one of Tresilian's magnificent Adventure series illustrations in a frame from my local framing shop will I be an artist? :?
I think (though I'm not sure) that Ye Shufang copied the picture by hand. But I still don't see why copying a line drawing exactly and putting it in a frame is considered to be anything special.
pete9012S wrote:Yes,what is art?......can art be what the artist says he wants it to be?.....
Many years ago I remember watching a TV series called something like Art is Dead, Long Live TV. It featured various artists whose work was put on display and assessed by critics. It's pretty vague in my mind now but I think that among others there was a novelist who had written some kind of "stream of consciousness" novel which was sheer gobbledygook, and a man who hung up pieces of meat and let them rot, in order to make a statement about society (I hope I'm not confusing that series with a different one). Art critics praised the work of these "artists" and took it seriously, and weren't told until the very end that the whole thing was just a joke. The exhibits had been created with no particular thought or meaning by people who knew nothing about art.
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Re: The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage

Post by Enikyoga »

Pete, that would be a great idea, that is of getting either myself or a professional audio book reader to read excerpts from my book and then possibly posting them on, maybe, YouTube. My publisher who offers this service has been in the past, quite skittish in having materials from their books (at least the written ones) published online or in e-book/pdf form). However, this is an idea I may take up in the future. Thanks.
Stephen I.
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Re: The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage

Post by pete9012S »

Yes, or ask Tony's permission to post a few sample pages of your work on either this or other Enid forum. You would get valuable UK exposure of your work, and everyone here on this forum would get a peek at your Anecdotage.

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Pete
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Re: The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage

Post by Moonraker »

I am sure that I read somewhere here that Stephen was invited to send a copy to Tony, where a review would be possible - also on enidblyton.net. Have you thought any more about that, Stephen?
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Re: The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage

Post by Enikyoga »

Moonraker, I haven't as yet mailed review copies of my book that much outside of the United States. However, I hope to do so once I have taken care of certain logistical postal problems and that may be a little while. Yes, that is the disadvantage of publishing on a topic (Enid Blyton) in a place far removed from its center/centre of gravity, but everything will work out well, eventually.
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Re: The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage

Post by Moonraker »

Enikyoga wrote:Moonraker, I haven't as yet mailed review copies of my book that much outside of the United States.
As Enid is virtually unknown in the US, I would have thought your main market would be in the UK, Stephen. A personal anecdotage of an unknown writer by an unknown writer with no publisher doesn't to me seem to hold your best options. If you were in the Dragons' Den, and I was Duncan Ballantyne, I'd be saying, "I'll tell you where I am, Stephen. I'm out!" :wink:
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Re: The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage

Post by Eddie Muir »

I'm totally with Nigel here. I would have thought the first person to send a review copy would be our Tony. After all, he does run the world's best and most important Enid Blyton website/society and, purely for promotional reasons, he would be the obvious first choice to be sent a review copy of your book, Stephen. In fact, I'm at a complete loss to understand why Tony hasn't already got a copy! :?
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Re: The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage

Post by Julie2owlsdene »

I have read through many postings of Stephen's book, and I have to say firstly that I do agree with Nigel and Eddie that a relatively unknown author in the USA, is a bit of a non starter, especially when you have to do your own advertising, rather than sitting back and letter your publisher promote for you. This is one of the reasons why I asked you if you'd approached a publisher for your book, Stephen. I wondered if you'd had it rejected and so had decided to go it alone.

Also, and I think I've mentioned this before, you have to be really sure of certain facts before you put to print. Your own personal views may not be taken too lightly. Enid may not be around to defend herself and her work, but her family are.

Just my humble opinion, and I'm sure you're probably thinking what do I know as I've not read it. Which is a fair comment to make.

8)
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Re: The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage

Post by Enikyoga »

Eddie,
As I said before, I haven't as yet mailed any review copies of my book outside the USA. This is due to the obvious convenient geographical proximity I have in this area. However, I will be doing so when I get more copies of the book and Tony will obviously be top priority on that mailing list.
Stephen I.
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