In this latest interview, avid readers can catch up with Victoria Williamson. An author and former primary school teacher, she writes books for a range of publishers, including a recent children’s book about history for Twinkl Originals.
Through Iron Eyes is her latest historical story for Twinkl. We caught up with her on the process behind creating a children’s book at Twinkl. Just what goes on behind the scenes?
About Victoria Williamson
Victoria works for Twinkl Educational Publishing writing Key Stage 2 books (ages 7-11) for Twinkl Originals in the UK.
When she’s not writing Twinkl books, she spends her time writing other books, visiting schools, libraries and literary festivals to talk about books.
She’d say her whole world revolves around stories!
About Through Iron Eyes
Prince Eorpwald struggles with the weight of his family’s expectations. Being the youngest son of King Raedwald of Rendlesham, he is supposed to be brave and noble. In truth, he would rather be playing with his friend, Mattie, than learning how to use a sword.
One day, Eorpwald enters the king’s quarters and is compelled to try on the magnificent Woden helmet – a remarkable piece of metalwork made for his father. He sees a vision of what is to come.
Panicked by the prophecy, Eorpwald desperately tries to warn his father before it’s too late.
Will he be able to change the future he’s seen through iron eyes?
Can you describe Through Iron Eyes in one sentence?
A thrilling Anglo-Saxon adventure based on historical events, with hints of mystery and magic.
What inspired you to write for children?
When I was young, I had lots of favourite books, TV shows and films.
My very early stories were mostly retellings of these, often in the form of badly spelt scribbles with some pictures underneath that I stapled into booklets.
This is a good way for young aspiring authors to practise their own writing. It’s called “fan fiction,” and as long as fan fiction writers don’t try to claim that the characters are their own, then it’s a really fun way to get better at writing stories.
As I got older, my ideas got more original, and I started making up characters and worlds of my own, but I never lost my love of the magic and wonder contained in children’s books, which is why I like to focus on writing stories for children as an adult.
How does a children’s book about history like Through Iron Eyes get started at Twinkl?
The first thing the team does is check to see which types of books and topics are being searched for on the Twinkl website.
For example, we published a book set in Tudor times last year because ’Tudors’ and ‘Henry VIII’ came up a lot in searches.
Once the team has identified the best age range and length for the story, a ‘book brief’ is passed to the author.
The author will then do some initial research and write up short synopses for the book. From there, the author, editors and content managers will meet to discuss which one to expand into a story.
How does a book go from idea to publication?
Once a story has been decided, the author will write a chapter breakdown. This is a short outline, summarising each chapter.
It’s important the team can see how the author aims to expand the summaries into a fuller story. The rest of the team will make suggestions around character development and plot. After that, the author can start writing.
Once the first draft is ready, the editors get to work, making suggestions to improve it. The author also produces what we call a “character bible” for the illustrator.
What’s a character bible?
The character bible describes the main characters and settings. It gives the illustrator enough information to start sketching rough character designs, not to mention putting together ideas for different scenes in the book.
What happens after the first draft?
While the editors get to work checking the book, the illustrator begins work. They talk to the writer and the editors about how many illustrations to include. Every illustration is carefully chosen to enhance the storytelling, not just to look good.
Whether adding atmosphere, building tension, or revealing emotions beyond the text, the artwork goes hand in hand with the words to create a more engaging read. As the illustrator works, they will do rough and final illustrations for each chapter.
In the last stage of production, the text and illustrations are given to our designer. They typeset the story into a book format, with the illustrations in all the right places.
Internal reviewers then comment on things they like about the book and suggest other ideas for improvements.
Once they’re done, the book is uploaded to the website.
Sounds collaborative
The whole production process is very collaborative. Lots of meetings and discussions take place to make sure the story and illustrations are the best they could possibly be.
There’s even an opportunity for readers to get involved in the process – a vital step at the end of production! This involves getting feedback from our reviewers. We’ll ask all sorts of questions around:
- the story and the illustrations
- suitability for independent reading and as a class novel
- ideas for extra teaching resources
We love to hear back from our readers. Get in touch with us if there’s anything you’d like to share about any of our books!
How many people are involved?
Most Key Stage 2 books involve a content manager, the author, two editors, an illustrator and a designer.
However, other members of the team are always happy to step in to provide suggestions, help and feedback. There are around twenty internal reviewers who volunteer to read the book in the final stages of production.
Depending on the type of story we do, we might reach out to other teams in Twinkl as well.
For example, if we’re writing a children’s book about history set in a particular time period, we might ask the history team to check to see if all the details we’ve included are historically accurate.
Did you face any challenges while writing this book?
The biggest challenge for me was trying to narrow down all the research I had done to just twelve chapters.
There are lots of scenes I would have liked to include in this story, for example more about Eorpwald’s journey north with the army, and perhaps a more detailed battle scene.
However, I’d love to see readers coming up with their own alternative chapters for this story or maybe even some verses written from the helmet’s point of view. Perhaps that’s something readers could send us!
What is your favourite Twinkl story?
This book – Through Iron Eyes – has been my favourite Twinkl story to write so far.
I love writing historical fiction as it gives me the opportunity to do lots of research into fascinating periods of time which are very unlike our present age.
I really enjoy finding out about real people – such as Eorpwald and his father Rædwald – and to try to imagine what their lives might have been like.
The fact that there are very few written records existing from the early-to-mid Anglo-Saxon period meant that I also had lots of opportunity to add ideas of my own to the story – including a bit of magic in the form of a legendary helmet that could see the future!
Email Victoria Williamson at victoria.williamson@twinkl.scot.
Buy it!
Buy a copy of The Boy with the Butterfly Mind by Victoria Williamson here, and help support local bookstores! This is an affiliate link, and I will earn a commission any sales!
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