A couple of months ago I met children's author and illustrator Sam Lloyd, to interview her for the book review magazine Carousel. Although I've been reviewing for Carousel for a couple of years, this was my first full article for them, and the cover story no less! Having worked in children's publishing for many years, it was strange to be on the other side of the fence - actually interacting with the interviewee rather than being the publicist/minder in the corner. Sam was a great subject, and we chatted easily about all sorts of things, from writing and illustrating, to the imminent arrival of her first baby. I was already a big fan of Sam's Mr Pusskins
books, being myself the custodian of a cantankerous fluffy ginger mog, so it was a real pleasure to talk to her in person, and even meet Mr Pusskins (well, a stuffed version of him made by Sam). The above photo was taken (by me) in her studio during the interview, and appears in the published piece (in the Summer 08 issue - just out), which you can see here. The editors must have been happy with the finished result, as they've asked me to interview Kristina Stephenson for the next issue.Keeping my fingers in as many journalistic pies as possible, I'm also busy writing reviews for The Detour and reviewedonline.co.uk, which is my excuse for having watched the whole of Weeds series three in a week. Well they are only short! I'm actually sorry that I had to carve through it so quickly in order to get the review done, as I'm now in withdrawal. There is so little television that captures my attention and makes me laugh, that Weeds is a rare treat. I won't go on about it though, because you can read my review here. But if I stay indoors watching DVDs too much I get restless, so it's just as well that festival season is almost underway, taking me all over the country in pursuit of live entertainment. This year I'm giddily looking forward to writing about and/or photographing BooshFest (Kent), Latitude (Suffolk), Kendal Calling (Cumbria), and of course the unmissable Green Man (Wales). And thanks to my fabulous new camera bag (both practical and stylish, oh yes) I hope to not look too conspicuously hack-like, unless it's in a Lee Miller vintage explorer/correspondent type way, which would be cool.
Photograph of Sam Lloyd Copyright © 2008 Rowan Stanfield - www.jadedladyonline.com
