Finding Dad by Daniel Lee

Daniel Lee explains what it feels like to launch a book in front one of the most demanding literary audiences in the world – a bunch of under-11s.

Launching a book at Hay is an exciting but somewhat daunting prospect. Its 80,000 visitors have paid good money and expect to be stimulated, inspired and entertained. I've been one of them, so I know. Well, OK, not all these people will be attending my event, when I will read a chapter of my precious fiction, but it feels as though they will be.

My story, Finding Dad, is about an 8-year-old dreamer of a boy, who imagines himself into a series of adventures as he tries to find out why the police have taken away his dad. It is aimed at 8- to 11-year-olds, so a large section of my audience will be children. And, notoriously, children can be the harshest critics. They will have no qualms about shouting me down, yawning loudly or belching, just when I think I have reached a dramatic moment.

For days before the launch I try to think of a way to grab the attention of my audience within the first few, crucial seconds of my speech and then keep their interest for the whole, long 15 minutes. I soon realise I need to enlist the support of some friends with more experience of this sort of event. I ask Korky Paul, the illustrator who created the wonderful pictures for the book. 'Ask the children a few questions and tell a joke or two,' he says. Deputy head teacher Alastair White agrees with him and children's author/illustrator Helen Cooper adds, 'Take some props.' Another friend tells me to relax. I spend the next few days working out how to weave this advice into something that will be relevant to the book.

Stealing gold
I arrive at Hay the day before the launch of the book. I intend to steal as many ideas as I can from other authors' presentations. William Nicholson, author of Wind on Fire, talks for a whole hour about fantasy and how he builds the ideas for his books. It is fascinating, but perhaps a bit too sophisticated for the slightly younger children who will be interested in my story. Then I hit gold with Steve Barlow and Steve Skidmore, authors of Star Bores: May the Farce be with You, and their full-on comic approach to history, film and culture.

On the morning of the launch we see Children's Laureate Jacqueline Wilson and illustrator Nick Sharratt, both of Tracy Beaker fame, captivate a huge audience with stories of their backgrounds and how they got into writing. As I start my reading, two hours after they finish their talks, they are still signing books.

Seeing the adults in the audience slightly wrong-foots me. How can I interest them in a talk aimed at 8- to 11-year-olds? I decide to tell them I'll ignore them and talk only to the children. There is plenty of laughter - in the right places - and everyone seems to enjoy the reading. Afterwards, I even sign some books, though the queue is rather shorter than the one at Nick Sharratt's and Jacqueline Wilson's event. Jacqueline later tells me, 'I have got beyond being shattered, I am now totally fazed'. I feel the same.

Finding Dad by Daniel Lee (Action for Prisoners' Families, 2005) is available at Amazon.

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